Senegal: Opposition leader Sonko warns of ‘chaos’ if denied election bid

Senegal’s main opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has warned that the country would face intense chaos and uproar if he is denied chance to contest in next year’s presidential elections.
The firebrand opposition leader told FRANCE 24 in an interview on his immediate response after President Macky Sall confirmed he would not seek re-election for the third term.

Ousmane Sonko in an exclusive interview threatened to visit the country with chaos and confusion if President Macky Sall attempts to use the country’s judiciary to prevent him from contesting in the coming 2024 elections.
He said if indeed his candidature in denied, there will be no election and peace in the West African country.

“There will be no elections in this country, or there will be indescribable chaos if President Macky Sall uses judicial tricks to prevent my candidacy,” Ousmane Sonko said.
He said his chances of winning the next election are clear since a majority of Senegalese people wanted him to run in the country’s elections scheduled for February next year.
He told Frace 24 that President Macky Sall bowed to popular pressure in his recent decision not to seek third term election.

Leader of the Pastef party contended there is no need to congratulate the country’s first gentleman over the decision not to seek reelection since he did so not on democratic grounds but due to mounting pressure from his own people and the international community.
According to Sonko, though his political rival and powers that be are determined to eliminate him from the presidential race, yet he was “ready to forgive” and “forget” any wrong done him if permitted to run in the coming elections.
He called for a free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections saying he hopes President Macky Sall ended his term well so that he and his family can live in peace.

Sonko, a revolutionary politician and Sall’s fiercest opponent, was sentenced to two years in prison for morally corrupting a young woman.
The conviction according to popular opinion renders him ineligible to contest in the country’s presidential election.
His conviction led to serious civil unrest in the country resulting the loss of about 30 lives, according to the opposition.

Sall, who is ending of his second term mandate announced in a nationwide address on Monday that he would not seek a re-election.
Calling for free, transparent and inclusive elections, Sonko said he hoped Sall ended his term well “and that he and his family will be able to leave in peace”.
He also said that currently he is not in contact with Sall.