Crisis Chronology

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SENEGAL

01/17/2024

Karim Wade, the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) candidate is officially released from his French nationality by the French prime minister, thus allowing his candidacy to proceed.

12/22/2023

Prime Minister Amadou Bâ nominated for president by the ruling party in the election scheduled for 2/25/24. He is Sall’s chosen successor.

07/30/2023

Sonko is charged with plotting an insurrection and other anti-government charges after being arrested on 7/29, at home, where he was serving his sentence for immoral behavior and rape.

07/11/2023

Birame Souleye Diop, an opponent of President Sall, is charged with offending Sall when Diop suggested that Sall might renege on his rejection of running for president in the 2024 election.

06/07/2023

At least fifteen people have died in protests, which continue.

06/02/2023

Sonko’s supporters protest in the streets. Some of the protests have been violent.

06/01/2023

Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is convicted of rape and a separate charge of “immoral behavior” and sentenced to two years in jail.

01/18/2023

Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to face charges of rape.

09/18/2022

Sall names Amadou Ba prime minister, the first since 9/2019. Ba has been foreign minister and finance minister.

09/13/2022

Fighting breaks out when the legislative assembly meets to elect a president. Amadou Mame Diop, a member of the ruling coalition, was elected, though the vote was boycotted by the main opposition parties, Yewwi Askan wii and Wallu Senegal, which failed to name a single candidate.

08/12/2022

Sall coalition reelected

In results from the 7/31 election, the ruling coalition led by Macky Sall maintains its majority in parliament, but only by a single vote, after one opposition deputy, Pape Diop, former president of the National Assembly and Senate, joins the coalition. Diop says he did so to avoid “a blockage in the functioning of institutions.” Sall’s coalition will have 83 of 165 seats and the opposition 80.

08/05/2022

The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance agrees to a peace deal pledging to lay down its arms in order to work towards a permanent solution.

07/31/2022

Legislative elections. Both the opposition (Yewwi Askan Wi and Wallu Senegal) and the ruling party claim victory the next day. However, the head of the ruling coalition list, Aminata Touré, says his group has won 30 of the 46 departments, which will give them a majority in the legislature, while acknowledging that the opposition won Dakar.

06/08/2022

Demonstrations by the opposition, led by Yewwi Askan Wi coalition leader Ousmane Sonko, after supreme court affirms Interior Minister Antoine Diome’s ruling that the electoral lists of both the ruling party and the opposition coalition were “inadmissible” for the 7/31 election.

05/10/2022

The Yewwi Askan Wi (Liberate the People in Wolof) coalition of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who came third in the 2019 presidential election, and the Wallu Sénégal (Save Senegal in Wolof) coalition of former president Abdoulaye Wade unite in order to win the next parliamentary elections. In 2017, the coalition backed by president Macky Sall won 125 seats out of the 165. The election is scheduled for 7/31/22.

02/14/2022

The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance, MFDC, returns seven Senegalese soldiers captured earlier. The MFDC is a low-intensity separatist group in the southern region of Casamance.

01/23/2022

Ruling coalition loses badly in local elections.

03/08/2021

Sonko is released on bail, but protests continue.

03/07/2021

At least five people have been killed in protests about the arrest of Sonko. Sall is urged to engage in dialogue with the opposition.

03/04/2021

Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is arrested for participating in a march to the court where he was to be tried for rape, a charge he says is politically motivated.

06/04/2020

After violent protests against stay-at-home order, the government says it will relax the restrictions.

05/05/2019

Parliament approves elimination of prime minister’s office.

04/17/2019

Prime ministership to be eliminated.

03/01/2019

Sall re-elected

Macky Sall’s re-election announced. He won 58% of the vote. Idrissa Seck was second with 21%. The opposition believes that challenging the vote would be futile.

02/25/2019

Idrissa Sall and Ousmane Sonko condemn Macky Sall’s victory claim.

02/24/2019

Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, a Sall supporter, claims that Sall has won election outright, although returns are not complete. Opposition claims that a second round will be necessary. Full results are expected before 3/1.

02/22/2019

In addition to Macky Sall (Party of Hope Coalition, BBR) and former prime minister Idrissa Seck of Rewmi party, El Hadj Issa Sall (PUR), Madické Niang (Independent), and Ousmane Sonko, PASTEF (Patriots of Senegal for Ethics, Work and Fraternity, also known as PASTEF les Patriotes.

02/05/2019

Former president Abdoulaye Wade calls for the cancellation of 2/24 election due to suppression of opposition, and for peaceful protests against system.

02/03/2019

Issa Sall, president of the University of the Sahel and head of the Parti de l’Unité et de la Rassemblement (PUR), announces candidacy for president for election 2/24. Macky Sall (no relation to Issa Sall or Khalifa Sall) is expected to win reelection easily, given that his two main opponents, Dakar Mayor Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, son of former president Abdoulaya Wade, have been on corruption charges and are not eligible to run. Some have said these convictions are political in origin.

01/27/2019

Police block a protest march against new election rule and the Constitutional Court decision blocking some opposition leaders from running in February election.

12/01/2018

Pres Macky Sall is named presidential candidate of the governing coalition. Two major opposition figures, former Minister Karim Wade and former Dakar mayor, Khalifa Sall will be unable to contest the election due to convictions.

01/06/2018

Attack in Casamance province, perhaps by MFDC rebel group, which wants independence.