Senegalese security forces used tear gas to disperse a small crowd that had gathered Sunday afternoon in the capital, Dakar, to protest against the postponement of presidential elections that had been approved for February 25.
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President Macky Sall announced on Saturday that the vote in Senegal would be delayed until “an unspecified date.” A day later, on February 4, the first public display of social rejection of the postponement appears.
About 200 protesters blocked traffic on one of Dakar's main roads with a makeshift barricade of burning tires. Men and women of all ages, waving Senegalese flags or wearing the shirt of the national soccer team, arrived on Sunday afternoon at a roundabout on one of the capital's main roads, at the call of several candidates who reject the postponement. .
In a televised announcement, the Senegalese president reported on February 4 that he would postpone the elections after the creation of a parliamentary commission that investigates two judges of the Constitutional Council “whose integrity in the electoral process is contested”, a measure that some groups of The opposition and civil society have denounced it as an “institutional coup.”
All this in the midst of the controversy in which some politicians have shown disagreement with the Constitutional Council, which approved twenty candidates and disqualified dozens, including opposition leaders: the anti-system candidate Ousmane Sonko, in prison since July 2023, in particular for having called for insurrection and disqualified by the Council following a defamation conviction in a separate case, and Karim Wade, minister and son of former president Abdoulaye Wade (2000-2012).
Given this, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) expressed its concern about the circumstances that had led to the postponement and He called for a new date for the elections to be quickly set.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the authorities this Sunday “to clear up the uncertainty surrounding the electoral calendar, so that the elections can be held as soon as possible and respecting the rules of Senegalese democracy.”
#Senegal | La France suit avec une lived attention to the situation in Sénégal. Nous appealons les autorités à lever les incertitudes autour du calendrier electoral so that the elections can be held in the best délai.
Declaration ➡ https://t.co/OvZSDSkGwn pic.twitter.com/JkYJqvrQPX
— France Diplomatie🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@francediplo) February 4, 2024
statement from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which urges the Senegalese authorities to publish an electoral calendar.
Senegal has never before delayed a presidential vote and the uncertainty over what will happen threatens to spark civil unrest, such as the deadly protests of recent years, which have tarnished its reputation as one of West Africa's most stable democracies.
With Reuters and AFP
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