Dakar, Senegal - Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade, whose application to contest the 26 February presidential election has been approved by the Constitutional Council, has called for the cancellation of the approval given to three opposing candidates -- Macky Sall, Idrissa Seck and Cheikh Tidiane Gadio -- alleging that the trio defaulted in the payment of taxes.

Sall and Seck are former prime ministers while Gadio was Wade's Minister of Foreign Affairs for 10 years.

The three men will have 72 hours to prove that they had complied with the tax laws of Senegal.

In his appeal, Wade alleged that the three well-known candidates 'are unknown to the fiscal administration and have never paid taxes. A citizen who does not file tax returns, and has never paid tax, is a tax evader who does not deserve to lay claim to the office of President of the Republic.'

The Senegalese Constitutional Council approved 14 applications, including that of Wade, and rejected those of the singer Youssou Ndour, Keba Keinde and Abdourahmane Sarr.

Wade's approval Friday, which would give him a shot at the presidency for the third time (against the constitutional provision), sparked riots across Senegal in which a policeman was killed.

Pana 29/01/2012