DAKAR, Senegal (AP) 鈥 Senegal's highest election authority has excluded two top opposition leaders from the final list of candidates for the West African nation鈥檚 presidential election next month. The party of the main challenger called the move a 鈥渄angerous precedent鈥 on Sunday.
The list published Saturday by Senegal鈥檚 Constitutional Council named 20 candidates, including Prime Minister Amadou Ba, who has the backing of outgoing President Macky Sall and is seen as a major contender.
Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who finished third in the country鈥檚 2019 presidential election,was disqualified from the ballot because he faces a six-month suspended sentence following , the Constitutional Council said.
鈥淭his conviction renders him ineligible for a period of five years,鈥 the council said.
Sonko, who currently is imprisoned on a different charge, was widely seen as the politician with the best chance of defeating Sall鈥檚 ruling party. His PASTEF party, which authorities , called Sonko's disqualification 鈥渢he most dangerous precedent in the political history of Senegal.鈥
The council also deemed Karim Wade, another opposition leader and the son of former Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, as ineligible for the ballot. It said Wade had dual citizenship at the time he formally declared his presidential candidacy, although he had three days earlier.
鈥淭he recent decision of the Constitutional Council is scandalous, it is a blatant attack on democracy (and) violates my fundamental right to participate in the presidential election,鈥 Wade wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Constitutional Council鈥檚 decision could further complicate preparations for the Feb. 25 election. Opposition supporters accused Sall鈥檚 government last year of clamping down on their activities, and some protests in support of Sonko .
