Hundreds of Senegalese opposition supporters and civil society activists gathered in a capital square on Friday to protest President Macky Sall’s likely third term.
Senegal has been rocked by violent protests for a number of reasons, including opposition parties’ fears that President Sall may seek reelection.
Sall, 61, took office in 2012 and was re-elected in 2019. Senegal’s new constitution, passed in 2016, limits the president to no more than two five-year terms in office.
Sall has made no announcement on whether or not he would run. He told the French newspaper L’Express in March that he may seek reelection using the same logic that other presidents in the region have used to run for and win third terms: that the new constitution reset the clock on his number of mandates.
Macky Sall’s career is gone. He should never seek reelection again. Ibrahima Lo, a businessman from the southern town of Kaolack who joined the capital rally, said, “We’ll not accept it – not today, not tomorrow.”
Ousmane Sonko, 48, a leading opposition firebrand who finished third in the 2019 presidential race, is one of those the opposition believes Sall’s government is pursuing via the legal system.
Sonko might be prohibited from standing for president in 2024 due to two separate problems. An appeals court doubled Senegal’s tourism minister’s suspended sentence in a libel complaint on May 8th.
He will stand trial on Tuesday for allegedly raping and threatening to murder an employee at a beauty salon in 2021. Sonko has disputed both of the claims.
His court appearances and legal difficulties have provoked violent protests from his supporters, resulting in confrontations with security agents.
