Senegal’s parliament has approved a reform clearing a path for Ousmane Sonko to contest the 2029 presidential election after previous legal barriers blocked his candidacy.
Lawmakers voted Tuesday to amend key provisions of the electoral code, removing restrictions that once disqualified candidates convicted of defamation from running for office.
The reform targets Articles 29 and 30, overturning rules that had sidelined Sonko during the tightly contested February 2024 presidential race.
Sonko, widely popular among younger voters, had been considered a leading contender before a defamation conviction barred his participation in the election.
In his absence, ally Bassirou Diomaye Faye secured a decisive first-round victory and later appointed Sonko as prime minister.
The legislative shift, backed by the ruling PASTEF party, signals a recalibration of Senegal’s political landscape ahead of the next electoral cycle.
Opposition groups, including the FDR coalition aligned with former president Macky Sall, criticised the move as a law crafted for a single individual.
Sonko’s conviction stems from a 2023 defamation case initiated by a government minister during Sall’s final months in office.
A court sentenced him to a suspended six-month term and substantial financial damages, a ruling later upheld by the Supreme Court weeks before voting.
His legal team has argued that a March 2024 amnesty law already nullified the conviction, adopted to ease unrest that shook the nation.
That period of turmoil, marked by protests and deadly clashes, tested Senegal’s long-held image as a stable democracy in West Africa.
With a strong parliamentary majority, PASTEF’s reform now redraws the political horizon, placing Sonko back among potential contenders for the presidency.
