The Constitutional Court in Senegal has published its official list of candidates who have qualified to run for the February 2019 Presidential Elections. The list includes the current Head of State, Macky Salls, and four others, but does not include leaders from the opposition party, Karim Wade and Khalifa Sall.
The five-man list was presented by the court on Monday the 14th of January, closely followed by protests from the parties and supporters of the candidates who were omitted from it.
As it stands, the people running for the presidential election in Senegal next month include, President Macky Sall who wants to be re-elected on the platform of his coalition party, Benno Bokk Yaakar (BBY), Issa Sall of the Party of Unity and Coming Together (PUIR), Ousmane Sonko of the Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Brotherhood (Pastef), Madické Niang of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS); and Idrissa Seck of Rewmi.
Karim Wade, son of former President Abdoulaye Wade and the official candidate of the PDS, was deemed ineligible for the polls based on a 2015 indictment of illicit enrichment or money laundering.
Wade, who had been groomed to replace his father in Senegal, served as the Minister of State for International Cooperation from 2009 to 2012. However, following his selection by the PDS in 2015 to run for the presidency, he was accused and sentenced to a 6-year jail term on counts of illicit enrichment of up to $204 million.
President Macky Sall pardoned Wade in 2016.
Similarly, Khalifa Salls served in public office holding several ministerial positions before gaining popularity after being elected mayor of Dakar in 2009. He was also re-elected in 2014.
After taking a break from the political scene in the country, Salls’ return was met with a 5-year jail term based on allegations of mismanagement of public funds, which he appealed unsuccessfully and claimed was politically motivated. He was also pardoned by President Sall but now lives in Qatar and has a large fine to pay if he ever decides to return to Senegal.
Prior to the announcement of the provisional list, a change allegedly aimed at the two disqualified candidates was made to the electoral law.
Although members and supporters of the parties involved have protested against the list even before it was announced, both candidates have also appealed the ruling to no avail. Since then, Khalifa Sall’s team has accused the court of tilting in the favour of those in power, saying: “The Constitutional Court has not made a decision based on the law. The court is a bit like the Tower of Pisa. It is always leaning on one side, that of those in power.”
With the exclusion of the two candidates, the incumbent Macky Salls seems set to be re-elected into office, and has expressed his confidence ahead of the February 24t elections.
