In Senegal, therefore, there will be no presidential election on February 25. A few hours before the start of the election campaign, President Mackie Sale announced the suspension sign die of this election. He explained the decision by the need to calm the climate and lift the curtain on candidacy controversies and allegations of corruption. The Senegalese head of state reiterated his commitment not to run, but did not specify the duration of this postponement.
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With our correspondent in Dakar, Leigh-Lisa Westerhoff
A parliamentary commission that has launched an investigation into the candidate’s selection process, allegations of corruption by two Constitutional Council judges and a candidate who allegedly lied about her nationality: For Mackie Sale, these “conditions Difficulties » And the risk of fighting the consequences the presidency Justifies its postponement.
When will the new summons come?
But the big question remains the calendar. When will the voters be called again? Karim Wades’ coalition requested a six-month delay in the bill, which has a strong chance of being adopted.
So what happens on April 2, the official date for the end of Mackie Sale’s mandate? If there is a president Promised not to run againExtending his mandate violates the constitution and his previous commitments, observers point out.
Postponement of presidential election: Listen to our special edition
The head of state also promised to open a dialogue to create the conditions for free and transparent elections in a peaceful Senegal. But who will participate and decide what, when the country has just closed a national dialogue, as opposition candidate Khalifa Sal noted.
Unknown in Senegal
If this decision should serve to appease Senegal, it also risks creating new divisions and sinking. Senegal into the unknown. Last night, Saturday 3 February, opposition candidates promised to continue their campaign and called for resistance. And shortly after Mackie Saul’s announcement, the Secretary General of the Government, Abdo Latif Coulibaly, who is also the brother of one of the judges of the Constitutional Council, announced his resignation.
This is the first time in the country’s history that elections have been postponed. For journalist Antoine Glaser, a specialist in current affairs on the continent, this reflects the current political uncertainty in the country, especially with a divided majority over the choice of Amadou Ba as the candidate of the Benno Bok Yakar coalition: “ There was tension, he wasn’t really his party’s candidate, I’m not in the mystery of the gods, but I imagine there must have been a certain number of tests to find out if he could go out in the first round. And it shouldn’t be too critical. »
” For the first time in this country, the lines are no longer very clear and we feel that the coalition is finally in great disarray, with parties very worried about their future. Yet it is visible that there is a whole section of the population – and especially the youth – who do not want to accept the President’s kind of hostility towards Osman Sonko. We are in a time of crisis in Senegal, a time of such regional upheaval. This whole traditional political class, everything was a little structured, managed… After all, there are questions about this country as there are in all the countries of the West African region. », concludes Antoine Glaser.
Also readSenegal: February 25 presidential election “sign die” postponed
