Tensions flared in the capital Dakar this Friday, February 9. A fresh clash broke out between the demonstrators and the police. The call to demonstrate against the postponement of the presidential election seems spontaneous.
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With our special correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac
The Place de la Nation where the gathering was announced has been cordoned off. Barriers, pick-ups and armored vehicles… A large police force is deployed, so it is impossible to go to this place. And it was on the outskirts that clashes erupted in nearby streets, particularly in the districts of Kolobane and Madina with police firing tear gas, youths with stones on the one hand, and burning tires on the other.
Young people who say they are angry and very determined, who want the right to demonstrate. These are mobile groups, we cannot strictly speak of a gathering. “Mackie Sal betrayed us, Mackie Sal lied to us“, said one of them with a mask over his eyes and the flag of Senegal, green, yellow, red on his back. “Mackie Sale, Dictatorยป, launched another. Some even say they regret the absence of opposition leaders on the ground.
This call for a demonstration this afternoon seems spontaneous. It circulated widely on social media, but was not formally launched by any party or organization.
There, black smoke billows around the Place de la Nation. Many streets are blocked, many businesses have closed their doors and the situation is quite volatile. Journalists have also been attacked by the police and the situation in Dakar is very tense.
14 candidates for the elections to be held this Friday, February 25, have just filed an appeal before the Supreme Court requesting the annulment of President Mackie Sale’s order postponing the elections. “Illegal decree“, according to him.
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