The main Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko, candidate for the 2024 presidential election, "
depicted as anti-French
", claims to have "
nothing against
" France but calls for a " win-
win partnership
" with Africa, in an interview with the France 24 and RFI media.
“
We were portrayed as notorious anti-French people.
We have nothing against France.
We have a speech that can be embarrassing because it is a speech that calls for a break in relations
” between Paris and African countries, said Ousmane Sonko.
“
There are centuries-old traditions between Senegal and France
” but they “
are not totally rosy for Senegal.
We want to continue partnerships but in a win-win direction
" with "
a revision of a certain number of axes, especially at the economic level
" and in the fields of natural resources and immigration, specified the president of the party of Patriots of Senegal for work, ethics and fraternity (Pastef), also mayor of Zinguichor (south).
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Referring to Russia, Ousmane Sonko indicated that “
what is expected (from this country) is not a partnership of war
” but “
wider partnerships which encompass all development issues
”.
However, “
what we see in certain African countries does not seem to go in this direction.
We are in the replacement.
Is what you replace with better than what you replace?
I'm not totally sure
,” he added.
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Moscow Influence Campaign
In several French-speaking African countries, Moscow is leading an active campaign of influence, particularly on social networks and enjoys growing popular support when France, a former colonial power, is increasingly vilified there.
Some countries accuse the junta in power in Mali of using the private paramilitary company Wagner, reputed to be close to the Kremlin, which Bamako denies.
The question of a possible rapprochement with Russia has also arisen in Burkina since the coup d'etat of September 30, the second in eight months, which brought Captain Ibrahim Traoré to power, while the country is struggling to cope with recurrent deadly jihadist attacks since 2015.
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Ousmane Sonko, 48, was charged with rape and death threats and placed under judicial supervision in March 2021, after being targeted in February 2021 by a complaint from an employee of a beauty salon where he was going to have a massage for back pain.
He denounces a "
plot
" to torpedo his candidacy, which the power denies.
President Macky Sall, elected in 2012 for seven years and re-elected in 2019 for five years, remains silent on his intentions for the 2024 presidential election.
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