[ 2012-03-03 ]

Senegal presidential challenger Sall gains support
DAKAR (AFP) - More Senegalese opposition figures
said on Saturday they would throw their support
behind candidate Macky Sall in his bid to oust
long-ruling President Abdoulaye Wade this month.

The president -- aged 85 and in power for 12 years
-- is seeking a third term in a move that has
triggered weeks of sometimes deadly protests in
Senegal, a country long seen as a beacon of
democracy in west Africa.

Sall, a former prime minister who trailed Wade in
a first-round vote last month, this week won the
backing of the third-placed candidate and has now
also gained the support of the men who came fourth
and fifth.

Sall, 50, has also won the influential support of
homegrown music icon Youssou Ndour in his bid to
thwart the sit-tight leader.

The fourth-placed candidate from the first round
election, Socialist Party leader Ousmane Tanor
Dieng, said he would back Sall in the vote on
either March 18 or 25, according to a report in
the Le Soleil daily.

"We're going to campaign together because we share
common beliefs... We will work together to ensure
that the charter of good democratic governance is
applied. And we will also govern together," he was
quoted as saying.

Former premier Idrissa Seck, who came in fifth in
the first round on February 26, also voiced his
backing for Sall, saying he would give his
unconditional support to the best-paced opposition
candidate.

Moustapha Niasse, another former prime minister
and the third-placed candidate to emerge from the
first round, has previously voiced his support for
Sall, as has the opposition June 23 Movement
(M23).

M23 -- which counts Sall, Niasse, Dieng and Seck
among its members -- has called a gathering on
Saturday in Dakar in memory of six people killed
in rioting ahead of the first round vote.

Wade garnered 34.8 percent of the vote in the
first round, Sall won 26.5 percent, while Niasse
trailed with 13.2 percent.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called for "civic
responsibility and democratic commitment" in
Senegal ahead of the second round.

Source - AFP

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