Opponent Ousmane Sonko, sentenced a month to two years ago in prison, called on the Senegalese to “come out massively” in the coming days, on the eve of an address to the nation by President Macky Sall, who is to announce his he will be a candidate for a third presidential term in 2024.
“We have to come out and confront the regime of Macky Sall and say that it will not be up to him to choose the candidates who will have to compete for the next presidential election”, he declared, on Sunday evening, during intervention on social networks.
The conviction of the opponent in a sex scandal, which currently makes him ineligible, sparked the most serious unrest in Senegal in early June, killing 16 according to the authorities, 24 according to Amnesty International and 30 according to the opposition.
Ousmane Sonko has constantly shouted at the plot of power to exclude him from the presidential election of February 2024, which the power refutes. He has been blocked by the security forces at his home in Dakar, “sequestered” according to him, since May 28.
Macky Sall was elected in 2012, re-elected in 2019. He had the Constitution revised in 2016. It stipulates that “no one may serve more than two consecutive terms”. His supporters present him as their candidate in 2024, arguing that the revision has reset the counters to zero.
According to the opponent, if the president does not show up, it will be to better eliminate him politically and relaunch the judicial machine and “this is not acceptable”. In case of arrest, “I call on all the Senegalese people to stand up as one man and come out massively and, this time, put an end to this criminal regime”.
If the president shows up, “I believe it’s incumbent on all the Senegalese people to stand up, to face him,” he said. “If we’re going to fight a fight, it has to be final. I call for a national leap forward. The days and weeks ahead will be crucial,” he added.
