Senegal’s Constitutional Council on Saturday, January 20, published a final list of 20 candidates for the February 25 presidential election that excludes jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and Karim Wade, the son of former president Abdoulaye Wade.
Those listed include Prime Minister Amadou Ba, chosen by President Macky Sall as his successor after Sall announced in July that he would not seek a third term. Also named were former prime ministers and rivals Idrissa Seck and Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, the ex-mayor of Dakar Khalifa Sall and Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, presented as a substitute candidate for Sonko. Faye, 43, a member of Sonko’s dissolved party, is also detained but has not yet been tried.
The published list of candidates also includes two women, gynecologist Rose Wardini and entrepreneur Anta Babacar Ngom.
Hmm.