In Senegal, opponent Ousmane Sonko and his presidential candidate, Bassirou Diamaye Faye, were released from prison

The announcement of their release caused scenes of jubilation and the sound of horns resounding throughout the streets of Dakar, the Senegalese capital. Ousmane Sonko, the country’s main opponent, and Bassirou Diomaye Faye, his right-hand man and candidate designated to replace him in the presidential race scheduled for March 24, left together, Thursday, March 14 in the evening, the Dakar prison in Cape Town. -Manual. The two men had been incarcerated on several charges, including “calling for insurrection”, for seven and eleven months respectively.

A dense crowd gathered in front of the prison gates from which a black 4 x 4 emerged during the night and hundreds of people gathered in front of Ousmane Sonko’s home. “Sonko, we missed you”sang his supporters gathered in the Keur Gorgui city, many brandishing portraits of their idol.

The two men are the main beneficiaries of the amnesty law on the facts relating to the political demonstrations which shook Senegal between 2021 and 2024, during which around sixty people were killed, according to Amnesty International. Voted on March 6 by the National Assembly, it was ratified Thursday by the head of state, Macky Sall, who fiercely defended it despite the controversy it aroused, even within his camp.

In an attempt to calm the unprecedented political crisis opened by the postponement of the presidential election announced on February 3 by the Head of State, at least 344 detainees, most of them sympathizers of Ousmane Sonko arrested during the demonstrations of March 2021 and June 2023, had been placed on provisional release in recent weeks. But the extension of this measure to the two main leaders of the African Patriots of Senegal for work, ethics and fraternity (Pastef), remained pending. Their release from prison is also the result of multiple mediations including that of businessman Pierre Goudiaby Atepa. “I am delighted that the president kept his word because their release was the aim of my mediation”he declared to Le Monde.

Euphoria

After the euphoria of their exit, the two figures of Pastef will have to quickly go into the field, while the presidential election is scheduled for Sunday March 24. Their coalition, President Diomaye, launched its electoral campaign with great fanfare on Sunday in the suburbs of Dakar.

Convicted of defamation and corruption of youth, before being imprisoned in July 2023 for calling for insurrection, Ousmane Sonko was excluded from the electoral lists and declared ineligible. He thus appointed his successor, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in his place. The inspector general of taxes will not be alone in the field: no less than two other candidates out of the nineteen still in the race are supported by Pastef, a strategy which had been put in place to ward off the gap from their leader.

Engaged in a decidedly unusual electoral campaign, the candidates Habib Sy and Cheikh Tidiane Dièye therefore have the mission of using their media exposure for the benefit of the “Diomaye president” coalition, whose slogan, “Diomaye mooy Sonko” (Diomaye is Sonko) is unequivocal. “After these releases, we hope for a victory in the first round”, enthuses Ababacar Sadikh Top, one of the spokespersons for Pastef. Amadou Ba, the former prime minister, who was appointed by the presidential majority, displays the same ambition.

Upset calendar

There are only nine days left for the candidates to travel the country due to a schedule disrupted by the cancellation of the vote initially scheduled for February and now called for March 24. The Senegalese head of state relied on accusations of corruption against members of the Constitutional Council to decide to postpone the vote until December 2024 before being disavowed by the supreme court, which forced him to organize the presidential election. before his term expires on April 2.

New twists and turns cannot be ruled out as a Supreme Court hearing is due to take place on Friday. The Senegalese Democratic Party, whose candidate Karim Wade was eliminated from the race for dual nationality, has not said its last word and attacked the decree calling the vote before the court. “Karim Wade told me yesterday that he was determined that he and Ousmane could take part. We cannot calmly move towards an election in ten days without the main opposition heavyweights”estimates architect Pierre Goudiaby Atepa, who is among the supporters of a further postponement of the election and a re-examination of the list of contenders.

As it stands, this presidential election promises to be the most open in the history of independence, while Macky Sall and Ousmane Sonko, the two heavyweights of Senegalese politics, will clash indirectly through their runners-up, Amadou Ba and Bassirou Diomaye Faye.