Senegal: Sonko, Wade not listed among official candidates of Feb.25 presidential polls

Senegal's highest election authority unveiled the names of 20 candidates allowed to 'contest in the February 25 presidential election.

Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who finished third in the 2019 presidential polls, was disqualified from the ballot because he faces a six-month suspended sentence following his conviction for defamation, the Constitutional Council said.

His now-dissolved PASTEF party called the move “the most dangerous precedent in the political history of Senegal.”

“This conviction renders him ineligible for a period of five years,” the council said.

Sonko's ally Bassirou Diomaye Faye was cleared to vie for the presidency.

The council deemed Karim Wade, the son of former Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, as ineligible for the ballot. It said Wade had dual citizenship at the time he formally declared his presidential candidacy. 

On X formerly twitter wade called the move "an attack on democracy" and vowed "to take part in the election in one way or another".

Senegal’s Prime minister and candidate of the ruling party was given the green light.

The list published Saturday (Jan. 20) by the Constitutional Council named 20 candidates, out of 79 applications the body reportedly received.