In Senegal, two months after the mandate of President Macky Saul, the conclusions of the “national dialogue” recommending the holding of presidential elections on June 2, officially handed over to the head of state on Monday, have provoked the anger of the opposition. She requested the organization of polls before April 2, the expiry date of the presidential order.
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Senegalese President Macky Saul took another step to set the date for a presidential election on Monday by receiving a report recommending holding a vote on June 2, two months after his mandate expired on March 4, much to the dismay of the opposition.
Senegalese were due to go to the polls on February 25. But three weeks before the election, the head of state ordered the postponement of the elections, citing deep differences over the credibility of candidates and the risk of renewed violence after the deadly 2021 and 2023 elections.
Condemned by the opposition as a “constitutional coup d’état”, the postponement sparked public opinion and demonstrations that left four dead. The Constitutional Council has since overturned Mackie Sale, and the country, plunged into uncertainty, awaits a new election date.
On Monday, the President officially received the recommendations of a “national dialogue” organized a week ago to come out of the crisis. Almost the entire opposition, which has been vociferously demanding elections before April 2, boycotted the meeting.
The recommendations of this meeting are already known: elections will be held on June 2 and Macky Cell will remain in office until the inauguration of Senegal’s fifth president.
The head of state, elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019 but not a candidate in 2024, “intends to contact the Constitutional Council to seek its opinion on the election date and questions after April 2”, referring to the presidency. . Because the head of state has repeatedly said that he will leave on April 2.
Postponing the vote until June 2 and the possibility of the President’s departure on April 2 opens the way to an unprecedented situation and a legal vacuum, the Constitution does not provide for this scenario.
The opposition calls for the speedy organization of the polls
Vetoing the postponement on 15 February, the Council wrote that “the mandate of the President (…) cannot be extended” and “the date of election cannot be postponed beyond the duration of the mandate”. Participants in the “National Dialogue” invoked Article 36 of the Constitution according to which the President “holds office until the installation of his successor”.
A collective mandate to bring together 16 opposing candidates is calling for quick organization of the vote, before it expires.
The “Resistance Front”, an alliance of political opposition and civil society organizations sealed on Thursday, gathered several hundred supporters in Dakar on Saturday and intends to keep up the pressure with rallies announced for Wednesday and Saturday. “We want elections before April 2 with 19 candidates chosen by the Constitutional Council and for Senegal’s democracy to shine,” 27-year-old businessman Asane Kamara explained on Saturday.
Another point of contention: an amnesty bill on facts related to political demonstrations between 2021 and 2024, which left dozens dead and damaged significant material, such as the demolition of the University of Dakar. The project launched by President Mackie Sale in the “spirit of reconciliation” must now be submitted to the National Assembly for adoption, possibly as early as this week.
But it created an uproar in the opposition and did not achieve unanimity in the presidential majority. The opposition condemns the “denial of justice” and sees it as a ploy to ensure impunity for those responsible for repression, including government officials.
In a column published Friday, more than 200 academics described the project as an “invitation to amnesia.” “Erasing the crimes of the past is tantamount to severing the memory of the victims and undermining the foundations of the rule of law,” the signatures write.
Amnesty International, in a press release published on Monday, sees the project as an “insult to victims’ families” and a “disturbing premium on impunity”. The organization calls for an investigation into the “use of force by defense and security forces during demonstrations”.
#Senegal – Amnesty Law
The amnesty bill introduced in Parliament is humiliating for the families of victims of the violence that took place between March 2021 and February 2024.
It is a disturbing premium even on exemption
We explain why in this # thread
— Amnesty Senegal (@AmnestySenegal) March 4, 2024
with AFP
