Senegalese President Macky Sall made it clear on Monday, during his speech to the Nation, that he will not be a candidate for his own succession, “contrary to rumors” which “attributed to him a new presidential ambition”.
“My long and carefully considered decision is not to be a candidate in the next election of February 25, 2024. And this, even if the constitution gives me the right to do so. Indeed, since the constitutional revision of 2016, the legal debate has been definitively settled by the decision of the Constitutional Council n°1-C-2016 of February 12, 2016”, he indicated.
Presumably, a new term was not on his agenda. “I would like to say that I have a clear conscience and memory of what I have said, written and repeated here and elsewhere, that is to say that the term of 2019 was my second and last term. That’s what I said and that’s what I’m reaffirming tonight. I have deep respect for the Senegalese men and women who have read and heard me. I have a code of honor and a sense of historical responsibility which commands me to preserve my dignity and my word”, declared the outgoing head of state.
“We have speculated so much, commented on my candidacy for this election. However, I never wanted to be hostage to this permanent injunction to speak before the hour, because my priorities mainly concerned the management of a country, of a coherent government team committed to action for the emergence, especially in a difficult and uncertain socio-economic context”, he continued.
Macky Sall said he was aware that his decision will surprise all those whose “sincere admiration, confidence and loyalty he knows”, as well as those who wish “to see him still guide the construction of the country which finds its marks more and more”.
“But Senegal goes beyond me and it is full of leaders who are also capable of pushing the country towards emergence”, he maintained, while acknowledging that he followed “with great attention and emotion the various manifestations of support” for his candidacy for a second five-year term.
He paid “a tribute to his predecessors, Presidents Léopold Sédar Senghor, Abdou Diouf and Abdoulaye Wade whose paths are, of course, different but who each contributed to building the image of this democratic Senegal that must be perpetuated” .
Just as he promised, between now and the transfer of power to the future President of the Republic, on April 2, 2024, to assume “with responsibility and firmness all the charges that fall” to his function.
“By virtue of the mandate that you have entrusted to me and in close coherence with my constitutional oath, I will continue to devote all my strength to defending, without fail, the constitutional institutions of the republic, respect for judicial decisions, the integrity of the territory, the protection of people and property. I will remain by your side, listening to you and serving the Republic and the nation,” he said.
Macky Sall was elected in 2012 for seven years and then re-elected for five years.
By OMA Newsletter N° 1235 of 4/07/2023
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
