Senegal : Candidates demand presidential election to be held before the end of Macky Sall’s mandate
After the veto imposed by the Constitutional Council on the postponement of the presidential election, decided by President Macky Sall and voted by Parliament which chose the date of December 15, 15 of the approved candidates to participate in the election demand that the ballot be held within the next 6 weeks, that is, before April 2. The date on which the outgoing president’s mandate expires.
In its decision of February 15, 2024, the judicial institution stated that the ballot could not be held on the initial date of February 25 and called on the government to organize the elections as soon as possible.
In response, the Senegalese Head of State intends to ensure the full implementation of the Constitutional Council’s decision. However, no date has been set yet. Through a statement, 15 of the 20 contenders for the presidential seat called for the new vote to be held no later than April 2.
These are the main candidates, including Bassirou Diomaye Faye, detained for incitement to violence, and former mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall, who signed the document made public on Monday.
The candidates in question also emphasize that the list of approved candidates should not be modified.
As a reminder, President Macky Sall justified his decision to postpone the elections by several months, due to disputes over the eligibility of other candidates. Two days later, Parliament endorsed this decision in a tense atmosphere, after opposition MPs were forcibly ejected from the Assembly.
This suspension of the ballot has sparked outrage across Senegal. An unprecedented sequence since independence, according to several observers. Protests have led to clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement, resulting in deaths in some cities of the country.
In its decision on the situation, the Constitutional Council, the highest court in the country, deemed this postponement unconstitutional, following which outgoing President Macky Sall declared that it would be held as soon as possible.
Even after this commitment from the outgoing president, protests had still taken place last Saturday in the streets of the Senegalese capital, to pressure for the organization of the presidential ballot to be carried out as quickly as possible.
