Senegal's Macky Sall rules out run for third term as president

Senegal's President Macky Sall announced that he won't seek re-election in a speech on national television on Monday evening. 

Senegalese President Macky Sall during his address to the nation on television, July 3, 2023, in Dakar © Macky Sall's Facebook page

"My dear fellow citizens, my decision after long consideration, is to not be a candidate in the election on February 25, 2024," Sall said in his televised address.

#DiscoursSn
Mes cher(e)s compatriotes, ma décision longuement et mûrement réfléchie est de ne pas être candidat à la prochaine élection du 25 février 2024. Et cela, même si la constitution m’en donne le droit. pic.twitter.com/ntpUqXKhZ5

— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) July 3, 2023

The announcement ends months of uncertainty and tension over whether he would seek to remain in power in the West African nation.

"Senegal is more than me, and is full of capable leaders for the country's development," he said. 

He vowed to seek to prioritise his country's progress, "in particular at a time of social-economic difficulties and uncertainties."

Macky Sall, 61, was first elected in 2012 for a seven-year term.

The election was followed by a constitutional revision of the presidential tenure, and Sall was then elected again in 2019 for a five-year term.

Most legal experts had said a third term would, therefore, be unconstitutional. 

Political demands

Opposition leaders have welcomed the decision.

The vice-president of the PASTEF party, Yassine Fall, said she wanted to congratulate the Senegalese people for their determination in protesting against the possibility of a third mandate.

A day before the address, PASTEF's leader and Sall's his fiercest critic, Ousmane Sonko, had urged the public to "come out en masse" and oppose him.

• Senegal’s Sonko calls on supporters to protest ahead of president's speech

For his part, Déthié Fall, president of the Republic Party for Progress (PRP),  called on the president to release all political prisoners in the country, including Sonko.

Return to calm

Sall's ambiguity about a possible candidacy exacerbated tensions across the country over the past two months.

For most of the opposition, including the F24 platform, the recent violence was the result of the ambiguity over the president's ambitions.

They called him to do more to restore peace.

Senegal returned to work on Monday after a long weekend break for the Muslim festival of Tabaski.

Many people expressed their relief at the president's choice, while they had feared violence would start again.