President Macky Sall is to speak on the Senegalese public broadcaster at 8pm (local time and GMT). He is expected to announce if he intends to run for a thrid term as president in 2024. Opponent Ousmane Sonko, who is still under house arrest, is calling on his supporters to protest today.
Sonko added that if the president announces a third-term bid it is "incumbent on all the Senegalese people to stand up, [and] to face him".
Chers compatriotes,
— Ousmane Sonko (@SonkoOfficiel) July 2, 2023
Je m’adresserai à vous et à la Communauté internationale ce soir à partir de 21h.#FreeSenegal pic.twitter.com/DDqgdh1Mmq
Most legal experts say a third term would violate the recently changed Senegalese constitution, which allow each leader two mandates..
The persistent ambiguities around a possible Sall candidacy continue to exacerbate tensions across the country.
Protests over Sonko arrest
Last month, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Dakar, the capital, and Ziguinchor, in the southern region of Casamance, after Sonko was sentenced to two years in prison for the crime of "corrupting youth".
Sonko's supporters and some political observers say the case was an attempt to block the opponent and mayor of Ziguinchor from running in next year's presidential election.
The clashes were the deadliest in Senegal in recent memory, creating widespread concern across West Africa, which is already threatened by the Islamist insurgency in Mali and Burkina Faso.
An attempted third-term bid by then President Abdoulaye Wade in 2012 plunged the country into violence, leading to 12 deaths.
(with newswires)
