Senegalese President Macky Sall ruled out seeking a third term in next year’s presidential elections, bringing an end to a heated controversy over his eligibility to stand.
Sall’s decision to step down when his tenure ends in April marks the start of a race to succeed the leader of one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies. The candidate of the ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition will have the edge in the vote scheduled for February as popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko faces disqualification from the race after being convicted of “corrupting youth” and sentenced to two years in prison.
“I want to preserve my dignity and stand by my word,” Sall, 61, said in a televised address to the nation in the capital, Dakar, on Monday. “The 2019 term was my second and last term, that’s what I said before and that’s my decision tonight.”
While Senegal’s constitution limits a president to serving two consecutive terms, Sall has previously said a 2016 amendment allowed him to run again — an assertion his opponents rejected. The ruling coalition has yet to nominate a presidential candidate.
Among the contenders to succeed Sall is Idrissa Seck, the runner up in Senegal’s 2019 election who stepped down from a government role in April. Other challengers are expected to emerge by August, when candidates are required to submit signatures from at least 0.8% of voters to show they have support.
Two other potential candidates — former Dakar Mayor Khalifa Sall, and Karim Wade, the son of a former president — could regain eligibility to stand in 2024 after a political commission that was appointed by Sall said it was in favor of changing the electoral law. Wade and Sall were disqualified from the 2019 vote after they were respectively handed jail sentences for embezzlement and corruption.
“He realized he’ll face an uphill task to regain the presidency,” Tochi Eni-Kalu, a senior Africa analyst at Eurasia Group, said by phone from Dakar. “The best option for him at this point is to be a kingmaker rather than go for a third mandate.”
Expected start of oil and gas production in the fourth quarter could lift Senegal’s economic expansion to 8.3% this year, the fastest in the continent after Libya, according to the International Monetary Fund. The Washington-based lender approved $1.8 billion loans for the country last month to support its recovery and protect it from future shocks.
Sall came to power in 2012, riding a wave of popular discontent after then-President Abdoulaye Wade sought an unconstitutional third term.
“I will continue to devote all my strength to defend the constitutional institutions of the republic, respect for court decisions, territorial integrity, protection of persons and property,” Sall said. “I will stay by your side, listening to you, at the service of the Republic and the nation.”
