Economy

Published on : 05/01/2024 – 20:52Modified : 05/01/2024 – 21:49

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Has a stormy electoral drama just reached its conclusion in Senegal? The country’s supreme court rejected, on Friday January 5, the candidacy of Ousmane Sonko in the presidential election scheduled for February 25. The Constitutional Council cited an incomplete file.

The legal affairs of this opposition figure with a sovereignist, pan-Africanist and social discourse, very popular with young people, have strained Senegalese political life since 2021 and given rise to several episodes of deadly unrest.

The supreme court argued that the opponent’s file was incomplete, his lawyer Me Ciré Clédor Ly told the press.

The administration had refused to give the opponent all the documents necessary for his candidacy, on the grounds of his removal, according to it, from the electoral lists following a conviction in June in a morals case. But his team had nevertheless submitted its application to the Constitutional Council.

“When we entered, President (of the Council) Badio Camara immediately notified us that the file (of Ousmane Sonko) was incomplete,” he declared.

The President of the Constitutional Council notified him that “the files, the letters which accompanied them and the annexed documents were received, verified by the commission which concluded that a document was missing and that the application file was incomplete”, he added.

“Electoral farce”

“The commission was in an irregular composition because the law provides that this verification had to be done in the presence of the candidate or the representative”, he estimated, denouncing an “electoral farce” and indicating that he was going to file “ remedies provided by law.

“There is a desire to move towards elections which from the start lack transparency and which in any case will not reflect the will of the nation,” he added.

According to Ousmane Sonko’s party television, the file is incomplete due to lack of certification from the Caisse de dépôt et des consignations (CDC) where the deposit of 30 million CFA francs (45,000 euros) required for the presidential election must be deposited. .

The opponent’s candidacy had already been largely compromised since the day before, with the confirmation by the Supreme Court of his six-month suspended prison sentence for defamation, a sentence widely perceived as making him ineligible for the election.

The Supreme Court’s decision closed this case opposing him to a minister and official of the presidential camp. Ousmane Sonko’s camp had regained hope in a candidacy from their leader following a judge ordered his re-registration on the electoral lists in mid-December, confirming a decision rendered in October by the court of Ziguinchor (South) which was overturned by the Supreme Court.

Plan B

He was invested on Sunday December 31 by his coalition for the presidential election in a private place, behind closed doors, following the authorities banned the public meeting planned the day before.

On Wednesday, the sponsorship control commission of the Constitutional Council validated the file of Habib Sy, a candidate member of the same coalition as Ousmane Sonko, who promised to withdraw if the leader of his party might run.

Another plan B of his training is his collaborator Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who must regularize his situation concerning his sponsorships to participate in the ballot.

See alsoOusmane Sonko sentenced: two years in prison for “corruption of youth”

Ousmane Sonko was found guilty on June 1 of debauchery of a minor and sentenced to two years in prison. The opponent did not appear at the trial and was convicted in absentia.

The 49-year-old man has been imprisoned since the end of July on other charges, including calling for insurrection, and denounces all these cases as plots aimed at excluding him from the presidential election.

He announced his departure on the social network X, where he is followed by almost no one. Alexandre Fonseca is however a heavyweight in the telecommunications sector. Co-CEO of the Altice Europe group and boss of Altice in the United States, the Portuguese businessman had been suspended for six months due to suspicions of corruption. After more than ten years within the empire created by billionaire Patrick Drahi, Alexandre Fonseca would have “reached an agreement terminating his employment contract as well as all the executive and non-executive functions that he exercised”, Altice Portugal said.

The telecommunications group, which notably owns the BFM TV channel, RMC radio and the SFR brand in France, is currently in the midst of a corruption scandal in Portugal. Co-founder of the group with Patrick Drahi, Portuguese businessman Armando Pereira is suspected of 11 counts of corruption and money laundering. Although he denies the accusations, he is also suspected of having set up a network of dubious suppliers with the aim of embezzling large sums of money via the group’s purchasing policy. Under house arrest, he paid 10 million euros to lift this measure.

Patrick Drahi felt “betrayed and deceived”

Around fifteen employees, including a manager of the group in France, were suspended. Patrick Drahi said he felt “betrayed and deceived by a small group of individuals”. Despite the corruption scandal, a branch of the group, Altice International, managed to borrow 800 million euros on the markets in October. Patrick Drahi constantly repeated this summer that this scandal would have “no impact” on the finances and forecasts of Altice, which must in particular pay off significant debts.