Senegalese opposition leader ends hunger strike: Report

KIGALI, Rwanda

Imprisoned Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has ended a hunger strike he declared in mid-October, media reports said Thursday.

“Rarely have I seen Sonko in such good health, in full spirits with such a conquering mind and optimism,” the local news portal Senego reported, citing member of parliament Guy Marius Sagna, who is close to Sonko.

“He went on hunger strikes with clear goals, of which all but one was achieved. He has suspended this weapon for the time being.”

Senegal’s Supreme Court on Nov.17 overturned a decision by the lower court which would have reinstated Sonko on the electoral register, effectively barring him from running for president in next year’s election.

The court sent the case back to the Dakar high court for reconsideration, potentially prolonging Sonko's legal battle for re-registration.

But Sagna said Sonko is still set on running for the presidency in the February 2024 elections.

Last week, Sonko’s dissolved political party the Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF) appointed a tentative official presidential candidate for next year’s election, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

However, the party maintains that Sonko is their number one candidate.

Candidacy applications for the presidential election will start on Dec. 11 until Dec. 26.

Sonko, whose political party was dissolved by the government early this year, was detained at the end of July in Dakar on charges which include calling for insurrection and conspiracy against the state.

He was hospitalized for several weeks amid a hunger strike before recently being returned to a Dakar prison.

Sonko, 49, finished third in the 2019 election against President Macky Sall, who ruled out running for a third term.