2023-07-02 02:06:58
Senegalese President Macky Sall has advocated unity in front of his supporters and says he will announce on Monday whether he will be a candidate for a third presidential term in February 2024 during the presentation on Saturday in Dakar of a petition from local elected officials. in favor of his candidacy.
This announcement is eagerly awaited in Senegal where the vagueness maintained by President Sall on his intentions with regard to this election, and the two-year prison sentence of one of his main opponents, Ousmane Sonko, have contributed to creating a climate explosive. The conviction of the opponent in a sex case, which makes him ineligible as it stands, caused serious unrest in early June, killing 16 people according to the authorities, 24 according to Amnesty International and 30 according to the opposition.
VIDEO. Senegal: look back at three days of chaos that left 16 dead
President Sall promised to speak about his possible candidacy during a speech to the nation after the Muslim festival of Tabaski (Aid el kebir) which took place on Thursday.
The constitution revised in 2016 to allow him to run for a 3rd term?
Mr. 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. He argued that only political, not constitutional, factors would prevent him from running, and asserted that his choice would be “free and sovereign”.
In front of local elected officials who signed a petition pledging to support him, he called for unity. “The challenge of the moment is first of all to be united. United, there is no political force that can face Benno Bokk Yaakkar (BBY)”, the presidential coalition, he declared, urging his supporters to place “the general interest” and “the of the coalition” before any other consideration.
“My fight and my greatest pride is really to lead you to victory and to pursue our economic policy for the benefit of our populations”, he added, highlighting his record and stressing that the roadmap to make of Senegal an emerging country in 2035 was already “marked out”.
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