The opposition leader of Senegal, Ousmane Sonko, has urged the public to participate in large-scale protests against President Macky Sall’s bid for a third term in office.
President Sall is expected to deliver a speech later to announce whether he intends to run for president in 2024, a move that most legal experts argue would violate the Senegalese constitution.
Last month, widespread demonstrations took place in various cities across Senegal following Sonko’s conviction and subsequent sentencing to two years in prison on charges of “corrupting youth.” Sonko’s supporters and some political observers believe that the case was politically motivated, aiming to prevent him from running in the upcoming presidential election.
These clashes marked the deadliest and most significant unrest in recent history.
Sonko also said on Sunday that if the president announces a third-term bid it was “incumbent on all the Senegalese people to stand up, to face him”.
The constitution limits presidents to two terms in office but Mr Sall’s supporters argue that this should be reset because a new constitution was adopted in 2016.
An attempted third-term bid by then President Abdoulaye Wade in 2012 plunged the country into violence, leading to 12 deaths.