Senegal’s Faye Repels Election Bill Seen Aiding Sonko’s 2029 Bid
Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, left, and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
Photographer: Patrick Meinhardt/AFP/Getty Images
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye sent back to parliament for reconsideration a set of electoral law amendments that may clear the way for Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko to run in the 2029 presidential election.
The amendment approved by lawmakers in April sought to narrow the range of criminal convictions that can disqualify candidates, limiting ineligibility to mostly economic crimes such as corruption and embezzlement. Sonko was banned from running for the 2024 presidential election because of his previous conviction for defaming a minister by accusing him of embezzling public funds.