"Mr. President of the Republic of Senegal, this center will bear your name, Khalifa Ababacar Sall." With less than one month to go before the February 25 presidential election, Barthélémy Dias isn't bothering with hypotheticals. For the impetuous mayor of Dakar and the dozens of militants gathered on January 19 for the inauguration of the capital's first municipal hemodialysis center, there is no doubt that Khalifa Sall will soon be Macky Sall's successor. Sitting behind him, dressed all in white, the individual in question savored the words of his protégé.

After 57 years of militant activism and four decades in power, Khalifa Sall hopes to take the final step in a turbulent political career in a few weeks. Successively elected municipal councilor, deputy, minister and mayor, he sees himself as the favorite in an atypical election. It is unusual for two reasons: the unprecedented number of candidates – 20, a record – and the absence of the outgoing president and his fiercest opponent, Ousmane Sonko, who is ineligible following his conviction for "defamation."

"There's nobody in his way," said one of his collaborators in the Taxawu Sénégal platform. To win, the 68-year-old candidate, who still has a youthful face, has been traveling around the country for the past year. Outside the capital, where he was twice mayor from 2009 to 2018, his Motaali Yeene ("pursue ambition," in Wolof) caravan has covered half of the country's 14 regions and 26 departments. He has his motto – "Feel the pulse of Senegal" – and plans to draw up a social project "co-constructed" with the people.

Aiming for consensus and avoiding division, that's the Khalifa Sall style. "I'm a worthy socialist heir. I've never compromised on my DNA," said the man who grew up under the tutelary shadow of the Socialist Party of Senegal's (PS) tenors, including former President Abdou Diouf, under whom he served as minister and Ousmane Tanor Dieng. The remark is a veiled criticism of his former party, which expelled him in 2017 for contesting its alliance with the Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) presidential coalition.

Reputedly "wise" and "courteous," Khalifa Sall does not hesitate to confront his former political friends by canvassing PS executives. "By targeting them, he's trying to make up for his lack of roots outside the capital. If he succeeds, his strategy will provide him with a significant territorial network," said Maurice Soudieck, associate professor of political science at Gaston-Berger University in Saint- Louis.

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