Sporting a black cap and shaking palms along with his followers, Khalifa Sall, one of many main contenders for Senegal's postponed presidential elections, gathered supporters in a working-class neighborhood of the capital Dakar.
The previous mayor of Senegal's coastal capital stated he was decided to proceed his marketing campaign regardless of the uncertainty surrounding the brand new election date.
Cries of “We would like Khalifa” echoed by the gang of a whole bunch who gathered on a cobblestone road in Hann-Bel Air, a stronghold of the previous mayor, who is just not associated to incumbent President Macky Sall.
“We now have been campaigning since February 4 and the election course of continues,” Khalifa Sall informed the gang.
“Politically and legally, now we have each proper to marketing campaign,” he added, transferring to the rhythm of vuvuzelas whereas surrounded by marketing campaign T-shirts and balloons.
The vote in Senegal was scheduled to happen on February 25, till President Sall introduced a postponement simply hours earlier than the marketing campaign was on account of begin.
The transfer plunged the historically secure West African nation into its worst political disaster in a long time and led to unrest that left three individuals lifeless.
Final week, the Constitutional Council reversed the postponement of the vote and referred to as on President Sall to arrange the elections “as quickly as doable”.
Nevertheless, it has left open the query of whether or not the election will probably be referred to as earlier than Sall formally leaves workplace on April 2.
Nineteen of the unique 20 candidates stay within the race after one hopeful withdrew her title.
Khalifa Sall, 68, is working for president for the primary time after being barred from the 2019 election following a conviction that landed him in jail.
The previous MP skilled as a instructor and was elected mayor of Dakar twice in 2009 and 2014.
He was arrested in 2017 and sentenced the next yr to 5 years in jail for monetary crimes.
– 'Proper man to construct Senegal –
Sall, who has at all times protested his innocence and claims he was framed, was freed in 2019 after a presidential pardon.
His marketing campaign manifesto for the 2024 elections guarantees “an inclusive and affluent Senegal inside a framework of sustainable growth.”
He stated he plans to spend money on people-based growth, together with “accountable water administration and truthful land distribution,” in a rustic the place greater than half the inhabitants lives from agriculture.
“The hope of farmers, fishermen and farmers,” somebody shouted to the gang gathering in Hann-Bel Air – the start line of a march by the district's backstreets.
Sall spoke to native residents and activists as he made his method by the neighborhood's stalls, workshops and houses.
“He’s the best man to construct Senegal. He labored effectively when he was mayor of Dakar and he has expertise,” a 40-year-old housewife informed AFP.
'He gave milk and uniforms to schoolchildren. “That each one disappeared when he left the mayor's workplace,” she added.
However road vendor Papis Seck, 22, stated he most popular to pin his hopes on jailed opposition determine Ousmane Sonko, describing the hearth model as “our solely hope”.
He stated he would vote for Sonko's second-in-command, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who’s a contender within the election regardless of additionally being in jail.
Niakhana Ndao, a 50-year-old restaurant proprietor, praised the incumbent president's “many achievements” throughout her time in workplace and stated she would vote for his camp's candidate, present Prime Minister Amadou Ba.
Safety forces didn’t intervene throughout Monday's march.
However footage posted on social media on Tuesday appeared to indicate tear fuel getting used to disperse a crowd close to Khalifa Sall's motorcade in Dakar's Yoff district.
