Senegal’s Presidential Election Candidates Announced

Senegal’s Constitutional Council has announced the names of 20 candidates for the February 25 presidential election.

Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who finished third in the 2019 polls, was disqualified from the ballot due to a six-month suspended sentence following his defamation conviction.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye was cleared to vie for the presidency, while Karim Wade, the son of former Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, was deemed ineligible due to dual citizenship.

The move was criticized as an attack on democracy, but the ruling party’s Prime Minister was given the green light.