(Bloomberg) -- Senegal’s main opposition politician Ousmane Sonko was eliminated from next month’s presidential election, according to a preliminary list of candidates published by the Constitutional Council on Friday, newspaper Le Soleil reported.

Sonko has been widely seen as the strongest challenger to President Macky Sall’s chosen successor to Prime Minister Amadou Ba. His exclusion from the list could spark popular unrest as Senegal’s poised to be one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s fastest growing economies this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, with gas and oil production set to come online in the first quarter and third quarter respectively.

Ba, Karim Wade, the son of Sall’s predecessor, and Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the backup candidate of Sonko’s dissolved Pastef party, are among the 21 candidates while ex-Prime Minister Aminata Toure was excluded from the Feb. 25 polls. Candidates can appeal the court’s decision until Jan. 16 with the final list of candidates expected on Jan. 20.

Sonko’s candidacy has been in limbo following a conviction for libel after accusing the tourism minister of embezzlement.

Read More: Senegal Top Court Upholds Opposition Leader’s Conviction

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