Once again, the representative of opposition figure Ousmane Sonko has been denied access to retrieve the sponsorship collection forms at the General Directorate of Elections, a crucial step for presidential candidacy. This time, the Member of Parliament Ayib Dafe, who is also the director of Ousmane Sonko’s campaign, was not permitted entry to the General Directorate of Elections.
In front of the heavily guarded General Directorate of Elections building, the wait was short-lived for Ayib Dafe, the MP from Ousmane Sonko’s party. He had come to collect the sponsorship collection forms for his candidate when a police officer denied him access.
“This is unprecedented,” Ayib Dafe remarked. As Ousmane Sonko’s representative and campaign coordinator, he found it incomprehensible, especially since the opposition leader had been reinstated on the electoral lists. “There is no apparent reason.
They told us that the General Directorate of Elections does not receive anyone. So, this is truly arbitrary. Today, we observe that justice is being disregarded by an administration, namely, the General Directorate of Elections and the Ministry of the Interior, which refuses to implement court decisions.”
Last Thursday, the Ziguinchor Magistrate’s Court ordered the annulment of Ousmane Sonko’s removal from the electoral register. This decision has immediate effect. In principle, the opposition leader is entitled to retrieve the crucial sponsorship collection forms and declare his candidacy for the presidential election. Prevented from collecting them on Thursday, October 19, Ousmane Sonko’s representative has vowed to return on Friday to claim these essential documents.