Senegalese lawmakers open the path for opposition candidates to run in elections

Two important opposition personalities in Senegal will now be able to compete for president in the country’s upcoming February election after lawmakers passed a vote.

The vote absolves everyone who has been found guilty, but it also pardons or amnesties them, allowing them to run for office.

Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, two formidable opponents, are now able to stand.

Antoine Félix Abdoulaye Diome, the interior minister, said in parliament that the bill “does not only concern the modification of article L28-3, which allows the convicted person to regain his or her rights by being reintroduced onto the electoral roll once the remainder of the sentence for which a pardon was granted has expired. Beyond this, the national discussion produced other advancements.

Wade, the son of former president Abdoulaye Wade, and Sall, a former Dakar mayor, have both being considered for the upcoming presidential election.

Both were disqualified from the 2019 presidential race due to separate financial charges. However, they might now be eligible to run in the election in February.

Yeya Diallo, a member of the presidential majority, lauded the president’s efforts in bringing the bill about.

The goal of this bill is to update the electoral legislation.

As everyone is aware, President Macky Sall started a national conversation that led to a decision to amend the Constitution and the electoral code.

Macky Sall, the 2019 winner, is serving his second term in office and is not able to run again.

By a vote of 124 to 1, the proposition was approved.

Babacar Abba Mbaye, a member of Taxawou Sénégal and a member of Khalifa Sall’s party, said it was a significant step in the right direction.

“And what we are seeing right now, with Sonko and others being imprisoned, is nothing more than a democracy that has lost its way.

So, today’s events are the start of a correction, which we hope will continue. The Taxawou warriors who have remained devoted to Khalifa, however, are something for which we today can’t help but be pleased.

Since opposition politicians have regularly complained of actions taken against them in the lead-up to the presidential election next year, many observers are hopeful that Saturday’s parliamentary vote would contribute to reducing the tension that has recently been felt in the nation.