Senegal: Ousmane Sonko calls for "disobedience" and rejects dialogue with the authorities

Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko during a meeting in Dakar on March 14, 2023. AFP - JOHN WESSELS

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The opponent, a presidential candidate scheduled for February 2024, denounced again Monday in front of the press what he describes as "judicial farces". The leader of the Pastef party is due to appear on 8 May in his appeal trial for defamation, then on 16 May in the case of rape charges. But Ousmane Sonko calls for "civil disobedience against justice" and rejects any dialogue with President Macky Sall.

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With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac

He had remained discreet for more than a month, but Ousmane Sonko returns to the charge. After analyses carried out abroad, the opponent claims to have evidence of an "assassination attempt" against him, on March 16, during a trip to the court.

As new judicial appointments approach, he says he is "persecuted by justice" and promises to "cope", without specifying his watchword. "Justice has done us too much harm. We have decided to launch a campaign of civil disobedience vis-à-vis this justice. Because when justice is unjust, we no longer have the obligation to respect it and a fortiori to accept to play its game, "said the opponent.

As for the call for dialogue launched by President Macky Sall, for Ousmane Sonko, there is no question of it. "For the little we know, in this current format, it is a call for dialogue to liquidate and isolate Ousmane Sonko and Pastef to break the opposition by giving a candy to each. It is a dialogue to validate an unconstitutional third candidacy. Our generation cannot enter into this deal, never!

In the opposition, Khalifa Sall - another leader of the Yewwi Askan Wi coalition - and former President Abdoulaye Wade's PDS said they were ready to participate in a political dialogue.

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• Senegal