The convoy of Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, campaigning for the legislative elections, was attacked on Wednesday in Koungheul, in the center of the country, AFP learned on Thursday, October 31, from his party, the African Patriots of Senegal for work, ethics and fraternity (Pastef). Mr. Sonko, head of the Pastef list in the elections of November 17, is unhurt. The president of the Grand Party, an allied movement, former minister Malick Gakou, had his arm broken, according to the press. His party published a truncated photo purporting to show him with his arm in a sling, his sleeve bloody.
Mr. Sonko’s convoy was thrown stones, a manager of his campaign team, Vieux Aïdara, described to AFP. “The rapid intervention of the police made it possible to disperse the attackers”he added, but not to identify them. “Violence has no place in an election. In Koungheul, they tried and they only tried because, frankly, attacking (…) Pastef is suicide »declared Ousmane Sonko on social networks, without naming the attackers.
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A local opposition leader, outgoing MP Fanta Sall, was quoted in the press as saying that opposition activists had themselves been attacked by “big arm” armed forces acting on behalf of Pastef. She reported several injuries.
The president calls for “moderation”
The Dakar headquarters of the opposition coalition led by the mayor of the capital, Barthélémy Dias, was attacked on Monday, the day after the opening of the campaign, by unknown assailants who attacked vehicles, broke windows and started a fire.
Figures from civil society, including Seydi Gassama, for Amnesty International, and Birahim Seck, for Transparency International, condemned on social networks the incidents that occurred Thursday in Koungheul.
The Senegalese are called to elect a new National Assembly after the dissolution pronounced in September by the new president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, of the Parliament resulting from the 2022 elections and still dominated by the camp of the former president, Macky Sall. Pastef is aiming for a majority allowing Mr. Faye, winner of the March presidential election, and Ousmane Sonko to implement their promises of rupture and transformation of the State. On October 25, the president called on all those involved in the elections to “moderation”.
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