Senegal Law Enables PM Sonko's Presidential Candidacy

The Senegalese Parliament approved a bill on Tuesday that enables Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko to participate in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for February 2024. This legislative change addresses Sonko's previous defamation conviction, which had barred him from running.

The amendment to Articles 29 and 30 of Senegal's electoral code stipulates that individuals convicted of defamation are no longer ineligible to run for office. Sonko, a popular figure among young voters and leader of the PASTEF party, was sentenced in May 2023 to a six-month suspended jail term and ordered to pay damages of 200 million CFA francs (approximately $356,000).

The Supreme Court upheld this conviction just a week prior to the bill's passage. Sonko's legal team argues that an amnesty law passed in March 2024 could annul his defamation conviction.

The political landscape remains tense, with Sonko's party contesting against the FDR opposition coalition, which includes allies of former President Macky Sall.