Former Senegalese minister Karim Wade, an opposition figure living in exile and son of former President Abdoulaye Wade, has officially submitted his candidacy papers for the upcoming presidential elections in February.
Despite doubts stemming from his 2015 corruption conviction, which led to a jail sentence, Wade’s Democratic Party nominated him as its candidate. Current President Macky Sall pardoned Wade in 2016, allowing him to reside in Qatar.
Wade announced his candidacy on social media platform X, expressing his happiness at filing his nomination for the February 25 election.
His previous criminal record barred him from contesting the 2019 elections, in which Sall secured re-election. However, in a move initiated by President Sall through a political dialogue boycotted by several opposition factions, parliament restored the eligibility of both Wade and another opposition figure, former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall.
Khalifa Sall, unrelated to the president, was imprisoned in 2017 for fraud but received a pardon in 2019, similar to Wade’s situation.
With over 200 candidates submitting their candidacy papers, the upcoming presidential election in Senegal is poised to be a highly contested affair.