while Ousmane Sonko continues to denounce a political conspiracy, the National Assembly of Senegal lifted his parliamentary immunity this Friday, February 26. Concretely, the deputy and founder of the Pastef les patriots party targeted by a complaint for rape and threat of death is no longer protected by his parliamentary status. This decision against the one who has established himself as the main opponent of President Macky Sall following the rallying of liberal Idrissa Seck paves the way for a summons by justice.
The plenary session, which took place behind closed doors due to the coronavirus, was punctuated by tense jousting between the majority and the opposition, according to echoes of the debates broadcast live on the radio. Of the deputies present, 98 voted in favor of lifting Ousmane Sonko’s immunity, one voted against and two abstained. Those of the opposition left the room before the vote, told AFP Dié Mandiaye Ba, the president of the commission in charge of the preparatory work.
One fact, two versions
Ousmane Sonko, whose anti-system discourse tinged with religious conservatism and African nationalism particularly appeals to young people, was the subject of a complaint in early February for rape and death threats filed by an employee of a beauty salon in which he was going to get a massage, he said, to relieve his back pain. He denies these accusations and cries of conspiracy. Coming third in the 2019 presidential election, the 46-year-old MP accuses President Macky Sall of having set up a mores affair to ruin his plans for the 2024 presidential election. And he fiercely criticizes the judges for being in the pay executive power. “If Macky Sall wants to liquidate me, he will, for once, accept to get his hands dirty,” he said Thursday at a press conference. I will not respond to such a summons because the rules of the procedure for waiving immunity have not been respected. ”
Member of Parliament since 2017, fierce opponent of President Macky Sall, he accused his regime of having “unfairly and illegally” detained 33 of his supporters who took part in demonstrations of support punctuated by incidents. The Senegalese police denied last weekend that the demonstrators were subjected to “torture”.
Some of his supporters burned tires on the pavement on Friday morning in several places in Dakar and its suburbs, according to local media. On the other hand, a segment of the population reproaches him, however, for having frequented this beauty salon, especially after the time of the curfew.
Political tension does not fall
The complaint against Ousmane Sonko, which sparked a storm in the political and media world, drew comparisons with the troubles of Karim Wade, son and former minister of ex-president Abdoulaye Wade, and Khalifa Sall, deposed mayor of Dakar, both hit by convictions for financial embezzlement and prevented from running for the 2019 presidential election. Macky Sall, 59, elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019, maintains the vagueness of the possibility of a candidacy for a third term, despite the limit of two introduced after a constitutional revision approved in 2016.
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