Highlights: In Senegal, the electoral campaign for the presidential election on March 24 has been launched since Saturday March 9. Nineteen candidates are in the running but not all are off to a flying start. In Dakar, it is not yet euphoria, like previous campaigns. Among the 19 candidates is the Prime Minister, Amadou Ba. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, still in prison, since April 14, 2023 for disseminating false news, contempt of court and defamation of a constituted body.

In Senegal, the electoral campaign for the presidential election on March 24 has been launched since Saturday March 9. A campaign in twelve days instead of 21 days, as the Senegalese electoral code says.…

Presidential election in Senegal: start of the electoral campaign, a timid start

In Senegal, the electoral campaign for the presidential election on March 24 has been launched since Saturday March 9.

A campaign in twelve days instead of 21 days, as the Senegalese electoral code says.

Nineteen candidates are in the running but not all are off to a flying start.

In Dakar, it is not yet euphoria, like previous campaigns.

March in Dakar, March 2, 2024 (illustrative image).

AFP - JOHN WESSELS

By: RFI Follow

With note corresponding to Dakar,

Birahim Touré

The presidential election campaign in Dakar ( Senegal

) is off to a good start,

but it's a rather timid start, almost unnoticed, this Saturday, March 9.

Some candidates have already declined their program for the day.

For example, Khalifa Ababacar Sall, former mayor of Dakar and member of the opposition, starts with a caravan in three communes of Dakar, at 3 p.m. (local time).

Amadou Ba, candidate for the ruling coalition, will be in a closed room, this Saturday afternoon too, for the start of his campaign.

Pape Djibril Fall, a former journalist, also a member of the National Assembly, will also be at a kick-off meeting this afternoon.

Almost everyone is a little taken aback by the start of the campaign, after several weeks of doubt and questions.

But according to their

staff

“

we will make do and adapt as the campaign progresses

In short, we’re already starting and we’ll see what happens next

.”

This campaign will also coincide with the start of the month of Ramadan, announced at the start of the week and which will shake up the campaign programs.

For some, it will be door-to-door or evening meetings to get as many activists as possible.

A candidate in prison

Among the 19 candidates is the Prime Minister, Amadou Ba.

Result: a new government takes care of current affairs.

Furthermore, there is also Bassirou Diomaye Faye, still in prison, since April 14, 2023 for disseminating false news, contempt of court and defamation of a constituted body.

This is the big question.

When will he come out of prison to take part in the campaign?

For the moment, a lot of speculation.

In the Senegalese press, a prison release is announced in the coming hours.

His representative, Amadou Ba, went to Senegalese Radio Television (RTS) to record his airtime (as provided for in the electoral code) and announced a press briefing at midday.

Read alsoPresidential election in Senegal: a new government to organize the campaign and the election

Presidential election in Senegal: start of the electoral campaign, a timid start

Presidential election in Senegal: start of the electoral campaign, a timid start

A candidate in prison

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