A popular former mayor of Senegal’s capital regained eligibility to run in the 2024 presidential elections after a tweak to the electoral law.
(Bloomberg) — A popular former mayor of Senegal’s capital regained eligibility to run in the 2024 presidential elections after a tweak to the electoral law.
Khalifa Sall was struck from the voter rolls after being jailed for corruption in 2015.
But an amendment passed by Senegal’s parliament on Saturday allows anyone imprisoned for more than five years, and later pardoned or amnestied, to run for office.
The move paves the way for Sall, as well as Karim Wade, the son of former President Abdoulaye Wade, to make a bid for the presidency. The younger Wade was jailed for embezzlement in 2018.
Some observers say the return of opposition politicians will ease tensions ahead of the high-stake vote, with the country’s President Macky Sall set to step down after serving two terms.
Sall, 61, said he wont seek a third term following months of speculations he might try to extend his time in power. Khalifa Sall, the former Dakar mayor, is not related to the president.
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