Senegal is set to vote on February 25 for a successor to President Macky Sall, who is not seeking a third term. Prime Minister Amadou Ba, a former economy and foreign minister, is among 20 candidates cleared by Senegal’s constitutional council to run. To avoid a runoff, a candidate must secure over 50% of the vote. Campaigning starts on February 4.
EX-DAKAR MAYOR KHALIFA ABABACAR SALL, 68, was appointed as prime minister in September 2022 and served as mayor of Dakar from 2009 to 2018. He was arrested in March 2017 on suspicion of embezzling $3 million in public funds and sentenced to five years in jail. Sall pardoned him in September that year.
Former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck, 64, served as prime minister from 2002 to 2004 in the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) under former President Abdoulaye Wade. He was sacked over embezzlement allegations and spent some months in jail before his case was dismissed. In 2006, he founded his own party and challenged Wade in 2007, finishing second. He ran again in 2012 but did not make it to the second round.
Entrepreneur Anta Babacar Ngom, 39, launched the Alternative for the Next Generation of Citizens (ARC) political movement in August 2023. She is the daughter of the founding president of Sedima, a leading poultry production group in the West and Central Africa region.
Former Prime Minister Muhammad Boun Abdallah Dionne, 64, was seen as one of the frontrunners in the race to succeed Sall within the BBY coalition. He was an early supporter and ally of Sall before he became president. Ndiaye, 59, is a former close ally of President Sall and top member of the BBY coalition. He left the coalition and resigned as minister and launched his own bid weeks after Ba was selected as the BBY candidate.
Bassirou Faye, a 43-year-old tax inspector, is running in place of jailed Senegalese opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko, who was disqualified over a defamation conviction. Both Sonko and Faye are currently in detention, facing charges including defamation and contempt of court.
(Reuters)
