A new parliamentary vote in Senegal has reopened the door for Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, to contest a future presidential election after lawmakers approved a bill amending the country’s electoral code on Tuesday.
The reform could make Sonko eligible to run in the 2029 presidential poll by revising Articles 29 and 30, which previously disqualified candidates convicted of defamation.
The bill was backed by the ruling majority led by Sonko’s PASTEF party but opposed by the FDR opposition coalition, which includes allies of former President, Macky Sall.
Sonko, a popular figure among young voters, was barred from the 2024 presidential race after being convicted of defamation, despite being widely seen as a frontrunner.
He was later replaced on the ballot by his deputy, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who went on to win the election in the first round and is now president, with Sonko serving as prime minister.
Sonko has been a strong critic of Sall. During Sall’s final term, a defamation complaint filed by a minister led to Sonko receiving a six-month suspended sentence and a fine of 200 million CFA francs ($356,000) in 2023. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling shortly before the 2024 election.
Ahead of the vote, Sonko’s legal team argued that an amnesty law passed in March 2024 had already nullified the conviction following years of political unrest that left dozens dead.
Opposition lawmakers, however, criticised the reform, saying it was designed specifically to favour Sonko’s political ambitions.
