The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) set November 17, Monday, as the date of its decision on the reinstatement of Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko on the electoral lists, including depends on his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election.
The lawyers of Mr. Sonko, a central figure in a standoff lasting more than two years with the Senegalese state which triggered several episodes of deadly unrest, have referred the matter to the ECOWAS Court of Justice. They ask him, among other things, to order the reinstatement of Mr. Sonko on the electoral lists after his removal following a conviction in a morals case. A judge in Ziguinchor (south) canceled this removal on October 12, which prevents Mr. Sonko, third in the 2019 presidential election, from being a candidate in the February 25, 2024 election.
The Ministry of the Interior has so far refused to issue Mr. Sonko with the official forms which would allow him to collect his sponsorships, a necessary step in submitting his candidacy. The ministry argues that the judge’s decision is not final and is subject to appeal by the State. The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider the appeal on November 17.
Hunger-strike
The Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA), a body responsible for supervising the electoral process, nevertheless asked the General Directorate of Elections (DGE), which depends on the Ministry of the Interior, on October 31 to reinstate Mr. Sonko on the lists and deliver the sponsorship files. The same day, the DGE rejected the request.
“Ousmane Sonko is just three weeks away [from the deadline set for the] submission of his sponsorship forms for the acceptance of his presidential candidacy. The decision of the district judge [of Ziguinchor] must be immediately executed in view of the urgency,” said Monday, before the ECOWAS Court of Justice, one of Mr. Sonko’s lawyers, Ciré Clédor Ly. A representative of the State of Senegal, Yoro Moussa Diallo, asked to “reject the requests as ill-founded”. “We have before us arguments based purely on politics,” he said. The court reserved the matter until November 17.
Mr. Sonko, 49, was found guilty on June 1 of debauchery of a minor and sentenced to two years in prison. Having refused to appear at the trial, which he denounced as a plot to exclude him from the election, he was convicted in absentia. He was imprisoned at the end of July on other charges, including “calling for insurrection”, “criminal association linked to a terrorist enterprise” and “endangering state security”. He announced a new hunger strike in mid-October.
