Rachel Beatty Riedl and Bamba Ndiaye

In a late evening announcement on 3 July, President Macky Sall put an end to speculations that he would seek a third term in office by contesting in 2024.

Prior to that announcement, Sall’s unwillingness to confirm he would not run for a third term, and the targeting of political opponents, created a political powder keg in Senegal.

Protests broke out in many cities across the country on 1 June 2023, following the conviction of leading opposition figure Ousmane Sonko for “corruption of the youth”. He was acquitted on charges of rape and death threats.

Sonko’s conviction marked the culmination of a two-year legal saga that crystallised the attention of a large segment of the Senegalese population against the government. An increasingly autocratic regime continues to curtail civil liberties and violate human rights.

According to government officials, 16 people were killed in clashes between