The Constitutional Council published on Saturday evening the final list of candidates for the presidential election on February 25. Twenty candidates will be in the race. Karim Wade’s candidacy, which was initially validated, was ultimately rejected because of his dual nationality. Ousmane Sonko is also definitively excluded from the race. On the other hand, several of his lieutenants from the former Pastef party will be candidates.
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With our correspondent in Dakar, Juliette Dubois
The list came down shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday evening. There will be 20 of them vying for the presidential election on February 25. A number up sharply compared to 2019 when only 5 of them passed the scrutiny of the Constitutional Council.
It is first of all a blow to Karim Wade of the PDS, a former minister in exile in Qatar, who sees his candidacy ultimately invalidated. It was the appeal of another candidate, Thierno Alassane Sall, which caused his downfall. He argued that Karim Wade still had his dual Franco-Senegalese nationality at the time of submitting his candidacy in December. Appeal validated by the Constitutional Council which recognizes that he only lost it on January 16.
The appeal of the imprisoned opponent Ousmane Sonko who had been excluded from the provisional list was also rejected. The Constitutional Council relied on its conviction for defamation against Minister Mame Mbaye Niang confirmed to the Supreme Court to justify its decision. He will therefore not be able to run in the presidential election. His supporters, however, still believed in it until the end.
But several of his relatives: Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Cheikh Tidiane Dieye and Habib Sy appear on the final list. The question therefore remains to know which candidacy the former Pastef party will unite around.
Note, among the other validated candidates are Prime Minister Amadou Bâ, former heads of government Idrissa Seck and Mahammed Boun Abda Dione and the former mayor of Dakar Khalifa Sall.