Darkening skies

Senegal: Seck plans US visit to undercut President Sall’s potential third term bid

By Julian Pecquet

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Posted on May 25, 2023 13:08

© US President Joe Biden greets Senegalese President Macky Sall at the leader’s session during the US-Africa Leaders Summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, on December 15, 2022. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) — US President Joe Biden greets Senegalese President Macky Sall at the leader’s session during the US-Africa Leaders Summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, on December 15, 2022. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

One of the leaders of Senegal’s opposition is urging the US to live up to its pro-freedom rhetoric amid concerns of possible democratic backsliding in one of West Africa’s richest and most stable countries.

Former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck has hired two US human rights advocates to help raise the alarm in Washington over several potentially ominous developments. These include the widespread expectation that President Macky Sall will run for a controversial third term in next year’s election and mounting legal troubles facing Sall’s main opponent.

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