After several days of uncertainty, the doubt was finally lifted. Karim Wade, the candidate of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) in the presidential election of February 25, has renounced his French nationality, according to a decree of Tuesday January 16 published in Official newspaper And signed by the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, and the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin: “The French whose names follow are released from their allegiance to France […] WADE (Karim, Meïssa), born 01/09/1968 in Paris 15e (75015). »
If the affair was controversial in recent days in Senegal, it is because it jeopardized the chances of seeing the candidacy of Karim Wade, whose father – former president Abdoulaye Wade – is Senegalese and whose mother is French, validated by the Constitutional Council, the body responsible for publishing, in a few days, the final list of participants in the presidential election. Senegalese electoral law prohibits candidates from having dual nationality.
On Tuesday, Thierno Alassane Sall, candidate for the opposition Republic of Values party, filed an appeal with the body in order to invalidate the candidacy of his competitor. “The requirement of an exclusively Senegalese nationality for candidates in the presidential election is based on fundamental principles aimed, among other things, at guaranteeing the independence of the President of the Republic vis-à-vis any foreign power […] In other words, a president cannot have a president in turn,” he wrote on the social network “open secret of the dual nationality of Mr. Karim Wade”.
In response, later in the evening, Karim Wade announced the filing, through his coalition representative, of proof attesting to his loss of nationality by renunciation, without however making it public.
“What is France’s interest? »
Contacted by The world, officials from Thierno Alassane Sall’s party say they are maintaining their appeal and emphasize that not all questions have been answered. “How was the Constitutional Council able to validate the candidacy of Karim Wade when he still had French nationality at the time of submitting his file [le 26 décembre] ? “, annoys Mr. Faye, lawyer and member of the Republic of Values, charged by the party with filing the appeal.
Another contentious point: the date on which this renunciation took place, which contradicts the statements of Karim Wade, who claims to have taken this step in 2018. “The decree of loss of French nationality takes effect on the date of the decree”, specifies the website of the French Ministry of the Interior – i.e. January 16. Thierno Alassane Sall’s party also attacks France. “Even if it is the task of the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior to sign the decrees, the timing suggests that the French government rushed to save a Senegalese presidential candidate. What is France’s interest in our election? »
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