Wade's dual nationality was being debated a few days before the final validation of the candidacies for the presidential election on February 25, in which he is one of the main competitors.
Any candidate for the presidency “must be exclusively of Senegalese nationality, enjoy their civil and political rights, be at least 35 years old and at most 75 years old on election day,” says the Constitution. He or she must also know how to write, read and speak the official language, French, fluently.
Karim Wade said in a message on his X account that the quarrel over his dual nationality “is finally over.”
“The decree of the French Minister of the Interior confirming my renunciation of French nationality is further proof of my (consistency),” he said.
The Senegalese Constitutional Council approved and published at the end of last week a provisional list of 21 candidates on which Wade appears. But this list was still subject to objections until Tuesday evening. The Constitutional Court is now examining the appeals. The final list must be finalized by the end of the week.
Former minister Thierno Alassane Sall, himself a candidate, indicated that he had filed an appeal on Monday against Wade's candidacy, deeming it unconstitutional.
Wade accused on X Thierno Alassane Sall of fueling a "(fruitless) controversy" and of acting on behalf of the current Prime Minister and presidential camp candidate Amadou Ba.
Karim Wade, 55, was born in France to a Senegalese father and a French mother. He was prevented by a conviction from competing in the 2019 presidential election, won by Macky Sall.
He was sentenced in 2015 to six years in prison for illicit enrichment. Detained for more than three years, he was pardoned in 2016 by President Macky Sall, and has since lived in exile, Qatar being commonly cited as one of his places of residence.
In August, the National Assembly passed a law making Karim Wade eligible as well as another opposition figure and former mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall.