Senegal’s Constitutional Council has ruled that Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko is eligible to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections, rejecting an appeal from the opposition coalition led by former President Macky Sall. The Takku Wallu Senegal coalition had argued that Sonko should be barred from the race due to his 2023 conviction in absentia for “corrupting youth,” which resulted in a two-year prison sentence.
However, the Constitutional Council dismissed the appeal on Thursday, deeming it “inadmissible.” The court clarified that only the interior minister has the authority to challenge a candidate’s eligibility, which was not the case in this instance.
The ruling clears the way for Sonko to participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled for November 17. The elections follow the dissolution of the opposition-controlled national assembly in September by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who succeeded Sonko’s longtime rival, Macky Sall.
Sonko and Sall were at the heart of a prolonged political standoff from 2021 to 2023, which saw violent clashes and led to numerous deaths. Sonko was imprisoned for over seven months under Sall’s administration and was prevented from running in the March presidential election after a series of legal challenges.
President Faye, Sonko’s former deputy, won the presidency with more than 54 percent of the vote, promising a break from the policies of previous administrations.
In its ruling, the Constitutional Council also approved the candidacy of Barthelemy Dias, the mayor of Dakar, despite his 2011 conviction for homicide, further intensifying the political landscape ahead of the parliamentary polls.
