(Bloomberg) -- Ousmane Sonko appealed a decision by Senegal’s Constitutional Council to disqualify him from next month’s presidential election, his lawyer said. 

Sonko, a frontrunner for the opposition if he’s allowed to stand, asked the court to reverse its decision excluding him from a preliminary selection of candidates, Macodou Ndour said in a text message on Wednesday.

Read More: Senegal’s Sonko Would Win Election if Allowed to Run, BMI Says

The council last week released a preliminary list of 21 candidates that includes President Macky Sall’s chosen successor Prime Minister Amadou Ba, the runner up in the 2019 presidential election Idrissa Seck, and Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Sonko’s preferred candidate should the 49-year-old opposition politician be eliminated from the race. 

Candidates who were excluded following the council’s scrutiny of sponsorships — presidential hopefuls need the backing of 13 lawmakers or at least 44,000 signatures from voters to run — had until Jan. 16 to appeal the decision. 

Aminata Toure, who was appointed prime minister by Sall in 2013, appealed the court’s decision, according to her staff.

The Constitutional Council is expected to publish a final list of candidates by Jan. 20.

 

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