Senegal’s two top opposition figures have been barred from running in the country’s presidential elections, the Constitutional Council announced, increasing President Macky Sall’s chances of winning.
Khalifa Sall a former mayor of Dakar, who bears no relation to President Sall, and Karim Wade, the son of former President Abdoulaye Wade, were jailed for graft and corruption in 2018 and 2015 respectively.
Under Senegalese law, the sentences effectively ended their chances of running in the Feb. 24 poll and the Constitutional Council confirmed this development on Monday.
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The opposition, however, said the sentences were part of the president’s plan to silence popular opponents so he could secure a second term in office, charges the ruling party denied.
Both presidential hopefuls had collected more than the 53,000 signatures of supporters, a requirement to run for election.
Khalifa remains in jail, where he is serving a five-year sentence for embezzling 1.8 billion CFA francs (3.2 million dollars) of public funds.
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He was denied an appeal by the Supreme Court earlier in January, but his lawyer was said to be planning to take the case to another chamber of the court.
Karim went into exile in Qatar in 2017 after serving half of his six-year sentence.
The Constitutional Council said Khalifa and Karim’s candidacies went against Senegal’s electoral law, which barred citizens sentenced to more than five years in prison from running for president.
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The two have 48 hours to appeal the Council’s decision, which will publish a final list of approved candidates, 35 days before the poll.
Only four opposition candidates have so far been approved by the Council, including Wade’s former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck.
Political neophyte Ousmane Sonko, is popular among Senegalese youth, which represent a significant portion of the voting population.
Senegal, a major exporter of fish and peanuts, has had three largely peaceful transitions of power since independence from France in 1960.
Reuters/NAN
