Freed from jail, Senegal Opposition Presidential Candidate Draws Hundreds to First Event

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Senegal’s opposition leader, drew hundreds of supporters in his first public appearance as a presidential candidate on Friday, promising to combat corruption.

Next to him, popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko encouraged fans to vote for his ally.

“We have an election to win. We have lost too much time,” Sonko, also released from prison on Thursday, said at a joint news briefing.

Firebrand Sonko – who was seen as the key challenger to President Macky Sall’s ruling party – threw his support behind Faye after being disqualified over a defamation conviction unrelated to his detention last July. He says the charges were politically motivated, which authorities deny.

Momentum has gathered pace for the opposition as support for Sall has dropped during his second term in office, which will be his final one. Due to constitutional term limits, Sall will step down and for the first time in Senegal’s history, the incumbent will not be on the ballot.

Most of Sonko’s supporters are expected to vote for Faye, making the latter a serious threat to the other 18 presidential hopefuls, analysts say. Sonko is popular among urban youth frustrated with a lack of jobs and economic hardship in a country where 60% of the population is younger than 25.

Faye’s coalition have been keen to impress on voters that a vote for the less-known Faye is a vote for Sonko. Campaign posters show the two side by side with the slogan: “Diomaye is Sonko.”

High-profile politicians, including former prime minister Aminata Toure, who had a public falling out with Sall and left the ruling coalition last year, have also backed Faye.

“Macky Sall himself has been the opposition’s best recruiting agent,” Toure told Reuters by phone, adding that Faye projected an image of integrity.