Ousmane Sonko will not be a candidate in the 2024 presidential election. He has been notified of his withdrawal from the electoral lists since September 20. This is the consequence of his conviction in absentia to 2 years in prison in the Adji Sarr affair. Which deprived him of his civil and political rights. No longer a voter, Sonko is thus excluded from the Presidential election by article L.57 of the Electoral Code.

It’s official! Ousmane Sonko, sentenced to 2 years in prison for charges of youth corruption in the case opposing him to ex-masseuse Adji Sarr, will not be a candidate in the presidential election scheduled in Senegal on February 25, 2024. This is the consequence of his conviction in absentia. Indeed, Ousmane Sonko, accused of rape and death threats by the former masseuse, did not appear at the hearing. To this end, the sub-prefecture of Almadies notified the mayor of Ziguinchor of his withdrawal from the electoral lists. Thus, article 57 of the Electoral Code stipulates that to be a candidate in an election, one must necessarily be a voter. With the loss of his civil and political rights, Ousmane Sonko will not be able to participate in the 2024 Presidential election.

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newspaper had already revealed the referral to the Almadies sub-prefecture in order to enforce the loss of Sonko’s civil and political rights. On September 20, the removal of the name of Ousmane Sonko from the electoral lists became effective. The bailiff responsible for executing this decision went to Ousmane Sonko’s home to notify him. The door attendant, on the instructions of the opponent’s head of protocol, asked him to find Ousmane Sonko at the Special Pavilion of the Principal Hospital in Dakar. Once on site, the prison guards refused the bailiff, under the pretext that the latter had not received authorization from the Sébikhotane prison registrar.

The next day, the bailiff returned to Sonko’s home. There he found Sonko’s head of protocol who, after speaking with his boss’s lawyer, asked the judicial officer to file the notification at 1 p.m. Something the bailiff was unable to do. To this end, he submitted the notification to the Dakar-Plateau town hall.

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Need we remind you that after his conviction, Ousmane Sonko affirmed that once arrested, he should be automatically released as “stipulated by law”. Statements that the lawyers defended in a press release. For them, Sonko’s arrest automatically annuls his judgment and, thus, nullifies any consequences provided for by law for contumax. Something that the Minister of Justice and the Public Prosecutor have brushed aside. For them, Ousmane Sonko was arrested for stealing a police officer’s phone. He was then prosecuted for 8 other charges including calling for insurrection.

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On the political level, the “Patriots” have, from the start of the Adji Sarr affair, affirmed that they had no plan B for the Presidential election and that Sonko will contest.

In the meantime, Dr Dialo Diop and Lansana Gagny Sakho spoke of their wish to have a plan B in case Ousmane Sonko was not a candidate for the Presidential election. The hard wing of the “Patriots” still continues to reject a plan B.

By Malick GAYE / mgaye@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH / Serigne S. DIAGNE