Senegal’s Macky Sall rules out controversial third term

Dakar, Senegal (AFP):

Senegal’s President Macky Sall on Monday ended months of tense uncertainty by saying he would not seek a third term next year, clearing the way for open elections in the West African nation, long considered a bastion of democracy in a troubled region.

Sall had until now remained coy about his ambitions, stoking tensions over whether he would use a constitutional revision to argue he could extend the country’s traditional two-term maximum.

“My dear fellow citizens, my decision after long consideration is to not be a candidate in the election on February 25, 2024,” Sall said in a televised address.

“Senegal is more than me, and is full of capable leaders for the country’s development,” he said.

Sall said he had sought to prioritise his country’s progress, “in particular at a time of social-economic difficulties and uncertainties.”

On the eve of Sall’s nationwide address, his fiercest critic, Ousmane Sonko, had urged the public to “come out en masse” and oppose him.

Deadly clashes erupted last month between Sonko supporters and the security forces, claiming at least 16 lives.

The turbulence tarnished Senegal’s image as a beacon of stability in West Africa, a region notorious for coups and civil war.

Sall, 61, was first elected in 2012 for a seven-year term and again in 2019 for a five-year term, following a constitutional revision of the presidential tenure.

The constitution stipulates that a president cannot serve more than two terms — but Sall’s supporters had argued the counter had been reset to zero thanks to the 2016 revision.

Sall had previously campaigned against a third term by his predecessor, Abdoulaye Wade, who was in power from 2000 to 2012, and had said he would not seek re-election.