Ousmane Sonko calls on Senegalese to “go out massively” in anticipation of a speech by Macky Sall
Opponent Ousmane Sonko, sentenced to two years in prison in a sex scandal, invites the Senegalese to meet “to confront Macky Sall’s regime”. The Senegalese president is to announce whether he will be a candidate for a third presidential term in 2024.
Opponent Ousmane Sonko has no intention of leaving the field open for Macky Sall. On Sunday, July 2, he called on the Senegalese to “go out en masse” in the next few days. This call comes the day before a speech to the nation by President Macky Sall, where he will say whether he will be a candidate for a third presidential term in 2024.
“We must come out to confront Macky Sall’s regime and say that it will not be up to him to choose the candidates who will compete for the next presidential election”, he declared during an intervention on the social networks.
Ousmane Sonko was sentenced a month ago to two years in prison in a sex scandal, which is currently incapacitating him. This sentence led to the most serious unrest in Senegal in early June, killing 16 people according to the authorities, 24 according to Amnesty International and 30 according to the opposition.
Ousmane Sonko has been constantly shouting about the government’s plan to exclude him from the February 2024 presidential election, which the government rejects. He has been blocked by the security forces at his home in Dakar, “kidnapped” according to him, since May 28.
Sonko calls for a “national outburst” against Sall’s candidacy
Macky Sall was elected in 2012, re-elected in 2019. He had the constitution revised in 2016. It stipulates that “no one may serve more than two consecutive terms”. His supporters are presenting him as their candidate in 2024, claiming the audit has reset the counters.
If the president does not appear, according to the opponent, it will be better to eliminate him politically and relaunch the judicial machine and “that is not acceptable”. In case of arrest, “I call on all Senegalese people to stand up as one man and come out massively and this time to put an end to this criminal regime”.
If the president does show up, “I think it’s incumbent on the entire Senegalese people to rise up, to meet him,” he said. “If we must fight a battle, it must be decisive. I call for a national leap forward. The coming days and weeks will be decisive.”
AFP
