Leading oppositionist Faye  and his mentor Ousmane Sonko  want to review the biggest oil  gas and mining contracts...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Bassirou Diomaye Faye  standing in for the barred Ousmane Sonko  was still on remand in jail  when the campaign kicked off (AC Vol 65 No 4  Fury as Sall's vote delay unleashes mayhem)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     His commitment to quit and to go ahead with the elections may weaken his hand in negotiations  especially with supporters of jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and his officially dissolved Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail  l'éthique et la fraternité (Pastef) movement (AC Vol 65 No 1  Sonko's long walk to the ballot box)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Yet the key opposition player in the drama remains former tax inspector Ousmane Sonko  whose claims in his book in 2017 of grand corruption in the country's nascent oil industry badly dented the Sall government's reputation (AC Vol 59 No 23  A well-oiled machine)...
	 
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	     With reports of a back-channel between Sall's camp and that of jailed oppositionist Ousmane Sonko  some last minute deal cannot be excluded...
	 
    
    
    
			
        
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	    ' The decision by the constitutional court to rule as ineligible most of the more than 80 candidates who sought to stand in the first ballot  including opposition Pastef les Patriotes leader Ousmane Sonko and Karim Wade  was presented as the rationale behind Sall's decision (AC Vol 65 No 3  A crowded field)...
	 
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	    Confirmation that opposition leader Ousmane Sonko  will not be on the ballot for February's presidential elections came after the electoral commission announced the 20 candidates who have been approved to contest the first round on 25 February (AC Vol 65 No 1  Sonko's long walk to the ballot box)...
	 
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	    Now definitively excluded from the presidential race  the imprisoned Ousmane Sonko waits to learn whether his stand-in  Bassirou Diomaye Faye  will be allowed out of jail to campaign in person (Dispatches 23/1/24  Prime Minister Ba is poll favourite after court rules out Ousmane Sonko)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Prime Minister Amadou Ba's status as the favourite has been strengthened by the confirmation of a defamation conviction against opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and the rejection of his application to stand in the presidential election (AC Vol 64 No 19  Sall's 'safe choice' hits turbulence)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     On 5 January  the Constitutional Court will rule on statements from 13 parliamentarians in support of the presidential candidacy of Ousmane Sonko  leader of the officially dissolved Pastef Les Patriotes...