Senegal’s parliament voted on Tuesday to postpone the Feb. 25 presidential election until Dec. 15, sparking violent protests across the country.
Demonstrators interpreted the move as a power grab by President Macky Sall, who is constitutionally barred from running for re-election after his term expires on April 1.
Sall is currently serving his second of two constitutionally mandated terms and is not eligible to run for re-election.monkey promised He announced last year that he would not challenge constitutional term limits and instead nominate Prime Minister Amadou Ba as his successor.
In a televised address to the nation on Saturday, he took the following unprecedented steps: Running late An election that was supposed to end his time in power, ostensibly due to problems with the electoral process and candidate list.
On March 16, 2023, in Dakar, Senegal, supporters of Senegalese opposition leader and presidential candidate Ousmane Sonko hold a demonstration, and Sonko’s tires burn as he appears in court to attend a public hearing on the road. was blocked. (Annika Hammerschlag/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“These difficult situations can sow controversy before and after elections and seriously undermine the credibility of the vote,” Sall said.
The biggest election scandal concerns Karim Wade, the son of Senegal’s former president Abdoulaye Wade. Karim Wade was barred from running after the Constitutional Court ruled that he was ineligible to run because he holds both French and Senegalese citizenship.
Mr Wade denounced the decision as a “scandal”, especially since he renounced his French citizenship last October. His supporters have called for an investigation into the two judges who ruled against him.
Sall and his supporters may be more worried about another candidate running to replace Ousmane Sonko, Basilou Diomai Faye.
Sonko was a fierce critic of Sall’s government and a popular leader among Senegal’s youth. declared He was jailed in June on charges of “morally corrupting” a young woman, which is essentially a diluted sexual assault charge. Sonko and his supporters maintain that this and many other charges leveled against him are nothing more than a politically motivated plot to remove him from office.
Senegalese riot police fire tear gas at supporters of opposition presidential candidate Dauda Ndiay in Dakar, Senegal, February 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Krainowitz)
Last week, Sonko did something for the first time. public address He will be released from prison within the next few months to be nominated to replace Fay in the February 25 presidential election. Somewhat inconveniently, Fay is also in prison after being provisionally detained in April on charges of inciting rebellion. Senegal’s courts remain divided over whether Sonko or Fay can legally run for office. Sonko’s name was not included in the official list of candidates published by the Constitutional Council last month, and several other opposition candidates were also excluded.
Sonko has long promised his supporters that February’s election will be a decisive showdown with Sall and Senegal’s political establishment. Mr Ba appears to have a good chance of winning this contest, as his poll numbers have fallen amid public dissatisfaction with the government. Many poll watchers believe Fay has a good chance of winning if the election is held as scheduled.
Francois Conradi, chief political economist at Oxford Economics Africa, said: “Mr Sall is convinced that Mr Ba will lose to Mr Bashir Diomai Fay, the radical replacement for Mr Sonko, and is calling the election to save time. It appears that they have chosen to postpone it.” Said After Sal announced the postponement.
President Macky Sall of Senegal speaks during the plenary session of the COP28 United Nations Climate Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Protests erupted after Sall unilaterally postponed elections, with opposition leaders accusing him of staging an “unconstitutional coup” to maintain power, and human rights activists feared that the flames of Senegalese democracy were weakening. Senegal has not postponed elections since it gained independence from France in 1960.
security forces give a thumbs up It took a harsh stance against demonstrators, leading to allegations of censorship and repression.government shutdown Mobile internet access was restricted on Monday over complaints of hate speech and threats of violence, and at least one private television station went off the air.
police was fired Tear gas canisters fired at protesters shouting “Macky Sall is a dictator!” Outside the parliament building in Dakar during the vote to set a new election date on Monday. Dozens of people were arrested include Former Prime Minister Aminata Touré arrives to join the protests.
After several hours of procedural debate, more than a dozen opposition members stormed the central podium and blocked formal debate and a vote. They were removed by security forces about two hours later, allowing voting to continue. The originally proposed Aug. 25 postponement date was pushed back to Dec. 15 in the final bill.
Senegalese opposition leader and presidential candidate Ousmane Sonko addresses supporters during a court hearing in Dakar, Senegal, March 16, 2023. (Annika Hammerschlag/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
According to Senegal’s electoral law, at least 80 days must elapse after the postponement. did it Theoretically, it could take place as early as April.Member of the Monkey Party Said The rescheduled election was postponed from August to December to avoid conflict with the election. Magal de Tubaa religious pilgrimage and national holiday held in August this year.
The bill was passed with support from opposition parties, including Karim Wade’s Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS), which expelled candidates from the February 25 election. No doubt these groups hoped that the long delay would give them time to add candidates back to the roster. Meanwhile, three of the candidates who were allowed to run in February have already filed lawsuits challenging the postponement.
“Senegal has always been known as a strong democracy, but that is no longer the case. All we want is fair elections,” protesters chanted outside parliament.
Other critics feared that Mr. Sall would continue to postpone the election indefinitely. A number of foreign governments and international organizations, including the United States, the European Union and France, as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU), criticized the election delays and called for voting as early as possible.
“Senegal has a strong tradition of democracy and peaceful transitions of power. While we acknowledge the allegations of fraud, we are deeply concerned about the disruption to the presidential election calendar,” the U.S. State Department’s Africa Bureau said. Said Saturday.
“We call on all participants in Senegal’s electoral process to engage peacefully in this important effort to quickly set new dates and conditions for timely, free and fair elections. “We also note that President Sall reiterated his decision not to run in the election,” the State Department said, giving Sall a not-so-subtle hint that he would be better off not attempting a coup.
Senegalese legal experts said on Monday that even if the vote is postponed until Dec. 15, Macky Sall must leave power on April 1, when his second term ends. . The speaker of parliament will then serve as interim president until a vote is taken.
Sall has not yet indicated his intention to resign on April 1st. On the contrary, he said he would remain in power until the next president is elected. Ousmane’s supporters took to parliament on Monday night wearing sashes in the colors of the Senegalese flag and called on Sall to resign immediately.
Benjamin Ndiaye, Archbishop of Dakar Said On Saturday, he was “upset by what was going on.”
“Senegalese must avoid the tactic of avoidance. If there are rules, we must follow them. If we respect them, we can move forward,” Ndiay said. Told.
