PASTEF Communication Officer, El Malick Ndiaye, has taken to Facebook to announce that the Dakar Prefect has denied the Sonko 2024 Coalition permit for their planned Investiture Ceremony. The mega meeting, scheduled to take place in Parcelles Assainies, was poised to be a defining moment for the jailed opposition leader’s candidacy.
Ndiaye described the move taken by Dakar authorities as “another provocation” geared towards triggering protests that would allow President Mack Sall to postpone the elections.
To many observers, the governing Benno Bokk Yakkar is not ready for the February 2024 Presidential elections, and will spare no efforts to derail the electoral process.
Last month, the Senegalese leader dissolved the National Electoral Commission (CENA) and appointed new members. Consequently, he was accused by the opposition, civil society groups of changing the referee in the middle of the game.
Today’s decision, denying permit to Sonko 2024 Coalition, comes at a time when the Constitutional Council has released the name of 93 candidates whose nominations papers are going to be vetted by seven-member Council. This will be followed by the announcement of the final list of candidates who are going to vie for the Presidency.
The conglomerate of opposition parties, civil society and pro-democracy groups, F24 has called for people to stand up against arbitrary.
Babacar Camara, a Presidential hopeful, made it clear that there are people who are bent on preventing the upcoming elections to happen. He denounced the undemocratic measures set out by the Senegalese government in order to barr Ousmane Sonko from taking part in the next elections.
