The National Assembly approves the postponement of the presidential election until December 15, 2024

Parliamentarians also came to blows – taking a full day of debate in the National Assembly in an electric atmosphere – to ratify the controversial postponement of presidential elections in Senegal.

The law postponing the vote, initially scheduled for February 25 to December 15, 2024, was finally adopted on the night of Monday February 5 to Tuesday February 6, almost unanimously, by 105 votes to one after opposition deputies. Manu Military was blocked from voting by the gendarmerie.

President McKee Sale will hold office until his successor is installed, another provision of the law states.

The text presented by the camp of rival Kareem Wade – whose candidacy was invalidated by the Constitutional Council – is backed by President Mackie Sale who announced the postponement of the vote last Saturday. So this decision was taken “Avoid institutional instability and serious political unrest”and lead “Complete restart of election process”, explained the deputies in the preparatory committee in a report. A postponement of more than six months makes it possible to consider “Country Realities”The report underlined the difficulty of holding election campaigns, especially in the middle of the rainy season, between July and November, or in clashes with major religious festivals.

Sporadic attempts to rally around Parliament

During the day, around Parliament, racists repelled scattered attempts to gather at the opposition’s call with tear gas. Smaller groups retreated chanting more “Mackey Sal Dictator! ».

With the presidential election postponed, the opposition is suspected of avoiding the inevitable defeat of the presidential camp or even planning to extend Macky Saul’s presidency, despite the latter’s repeated commitment on Saturday not to run for re-election.

“The situation is absolutely catastrophic, the image of Senegal is ruined and I don’t think we will soon recover from this tsunami of rule of law and this democratic failure”Ayib Daffé, an opposition deputy, reacted after the vote. “President Mackey Sale said he would serve two terms. He kept his word.”For his part, Moussa Diakhat, president of the pro-government Law Commission, said.

Senegal, known as an island of stability in West Africa, has been in the grip of high tensions since President Sall announced the postponement of the presidential election on Saturday, hours before the start of the campaign. This decision was strongly condemned by his opponents “Constitutional Coup”. This created an uproar among civil society, including eligible candidates and religious circles.

Important partners of the Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, the United States, the European Union, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, Senegal expressed their concern.

Internet cut

Authorities suppressed the first attempts at gatherings on Sunday. The internet was cut off on Monday, a means that has become commonplace elsewhere to prevent mobilization and was already being used by the Senegalese government in June 2023 in the context of a political crisis.

Many human rights organizations, Senegalese and international, have condemned these internet restrictions as well as the license suspension of private television Wolf TV. They called on the authorities to guard against excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and attacks on freedoms. “Senegal has long been considered a model of democracy in the region. This reality is under threat today”Yet there has never been an uprising in the country, writes Human Rights Watch.

The crisis makes Senegal fear a second bout of the fever experienced in March 2021 and June 2023, which caused dozens of deaths and hundreds of arrests. The ambiguity maintained by President Sale for months on a new candidacy in 2024 contributed to the tension at the time. He finally announced in July 2023 that he would not seek a new mandate.

Despite widely shared outrage on social networks, protests against the postponement of the presidential election did not reach the streets on a large scale. The University of Dakar, the historic center of protest, has been closed since the 2023 unrest and the anti-system Pastef party has been arrested.