Leading opposition politicians in Senegal have been released from prison just before the elections

Two opposition party politicians were released from prison in Senegal on Thursday evening, just ten days before national elections in which one of them will run for president.

Hundreds of supporters celebrated in the streets of Dakar after Ousmane Sonko, Senegal’s main opposition leader, was released along with Bassirou Diomaye Faye, his party’s candidate in the March 24 elections.

“You never gave up, even when we were away. You kept fighting.” Mr Faye told this to supporters in Dakar on Thursday evening. “Today we are ready to fight the same battle with you.”

The release is the latest in a series of unexpected moves by the incumbent president, Macky Sall, who cited corruption allegations when he announced last month that he was canceling the election. Facing a backlash, he reversed course and set the election for Sunday, March 24 – just nine days before his term ends.

After hinting for years that he might run again, Mr. Sall finally confirmed last July that he would step down after his two terms expired.

Senegal, a coastal West African state of 17 million people, is seen as a bastion of democracy compared to some of its West African neighbors, which are ruled by military juntas after a wave of coups in recent years.

Mr. Sonko was ineligible to contest the upcoming elections because he was convicted of corrupting a minor last June and sentenced to two years in prison. Mr Faye was on the run from prison, where he was awaiting trial for defamation and contempt of court, after accusing magistrates in a social media post last year of prosecuting Mr Sonko to protect the interests of Mr Sall to serve.

Campaigns have been started prior to the elections. Mr Sall’s chosen successor, former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, has held meetings that were poorly attended and received little attention.

Alioune Tine, an expert on human rights in West Africa, said the capture of Mr Sonko and Mr Faye had increased their cachet, especially for Mr Faye, who was a little-known figure before being named as Mr Sonko’s replacement. the election.

“If you throw leaders in jail, you turn them into heroes,” said Mr. Tine, the founder of the AfrikaJom Center, a Dakar-based research organization.

As Mr Sonko and Mr Faye paraded through central Dakar on Thursday evening, it was Mr Sonko’s name that supporters chanted. But Mr. Sonko kept a low profile as Mr. Faye addressed the crowd through a microphone, standing in a car, a scarf in the colors of the Senegalese flag around his neck.

“Sonko will play a central role in the campaign, but the main challenge for him will be not to overshadow Faye too much so that Faye can win,” Mr Tine added.

A total of nineteen candidates are on the ballot for the elections in Senegal, one of the few countries in the region that has never undergone military rule. In recent years, however, Mr. Sall’s government had repeatedly cut off access to the Internet and banned demonstrations as Mr. Sonko rose to fame.

There have been dozens of demonstrators killed during anti-government riotsmany with live ammunition human rights groups said was dismissed by the country’s security forces.

Mr. Sonko is a charismatic but divisive figure who was tried on charges of raping a massage parlor employee. He was acquitted of rape, but sentenced last year to two years in prison for “corruption of the youth” because the employee was under 21 years old.

Mr. Sall signed an amnesty bill earlier this month, which ultimately led to the release of Mr. Faye and Mr. Sonko. But Mr Sonko’s role in both the upcoming elections and the country’s political future remains unclear.

Mr Sonko, a former tax inspector and currently mayor of the southern city of Ziguinchor, has vowed to rid Senegal of corruption, appealing to young Senegalese voters – although he has not made clear how he plans to deliver on his promises of sweeping change to be carried out.

“Sonko is the person Senegal needs,” said Serge Goudiaby Atepa, a well-known Senegalese architect and head of the main lobby of business leaders in Senegal.

Mr Atepa also praised Mr Sall for releasing Mr Sonko, who was his main political enemy for years. “The crowds we saw on the streets last night prove that this was the right thing to do.”

Mady Camara contributed reporting from Dakar.