Mass protests broke out across Senegal, following the announcement by the country’s president, Macky Sall, to postpone the February 25 presidential elections.
Critics of the decision say the actions of the president pose a serious threat to the country’s long-established democratic traditions and clearly contradicts the position he has held in support of ECOWAS’s push to entrench democracy in the sub region.
Observers also voice concerns over the move by Senegalese authorities to cut mobile internet, revoke the license of the private broadcasting outfit, Walf TV, and harass journalists.
Political commentators in the country say, beyond the obvious arbitrariness of Sall’s decision, the attempt by the country’s legislature to endorse the president’s edict further illustrates the government’s neglect of public concerns.
In the face of growing public outcry, Senegal’s parliament voted to delay the presidential election to December 15. The bill had initially proposed rescheduling the February 25 vote to August 25 and keeping Sall in power until his successor is installed.
However, in an unprecedented move, by the evening, just before the final vote, the bill was amended to propose an even later election date of December 15, and was passed by 105 MPs in the 165-seat Assembly.
Opposition lawmakers blockaded the proceedings until security forces stormed the building and forcibly removed the lawmakers who had occupied the central dais and were trying to block the voting process.
The mood in parliament was also tense with some deputies shoving and pushing one another, leading to a temporary recess.
Many in Senegal believe that the last-minute amendment to postpone the election to December rather than August is likely to provoke further opposition backlash and risk a repeat of violent protests that have broken out over the past three years partly over what has been described by political watchers as Sall’s “authoritarian overreach”.
The president, who has served the maximum two terms, was originally due to leave office on April 2. He has said previously he has no plans to extend his term, but protesters are sceptical. They say his recent actions have suggested a subtle attempt to hold on to power and this decision may just be his “coup de grâce” against the country’s longstanding democratic institution.
President Macky Sall’s announcement is unprecedented in the country’s history and has hurled Senegal into uncharted constitutional waters. His actions, many say, threaten to further taint the country’s reputation as a success story for democratic stability in a region swept by coups.
At the heart of the crisis is the president’s claim that the country’s constitutional council, the judicial body that determines whether candidates have met the required conditions to run, has been compromised.
President Sall justified his move by saying time was needed to resolve a dispute between the Constitutional Council and some members of the National Assembly. In January the council controversially barred Ousmane Sonko, the leading opposition candidate, on the basis of his defamation conviction. Mr Sonko, who is in jail on separate charges of fomenting insurrection, says the cases against him are politically motivated.
The council also blocked Karim Wade, the son of a former president, Abdoulaye Wade, from running over his dual nationality, which seems to have been resolved by a decree signed in January by the new French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, releasing him from his allegiance to France. However, the same council, it was discovered, had approved the candidacy of Rose Wardini, who also held dual French-Senegalese citizenship, in violation of the Senegalese Constitution.
Mr Wade’s political party, which made the allegations of corruption towards the council, seems to be in agreement with President Sall’s decision as his party had urged a six-month delay to the presidential election to give time for an inquiry.
While Wade’s party appears sympathetic with Sall’s decision, there is the possibility of a split between Sall and Amadou Ba, the prime minister and the ruling party’s presidential candidate. There are two theories that have been propounded by pundits. One is that Sall fears Mr Ba will lose to a growing opposition tide and so is delaying the election, perhaps to propose a different candidate. Another is that he wants to cling to power himself.
There may be some truth to claims of Sall’s fears. A former socialist leader, Ba’s path to the presidential ticket has been strewn with pitfalls. The announcement of his nomination caused a stir with a large section of the party.
Some opposed his endorsement on the grounds that he is a last-minute addition to the party, joining only in 2013 after giving up his post as director general of Taxes and Domains to take charge of the government’s economy and finance portfolios.
Many say the Prime Minister has been less effective as a political player. His Dakar stronghold of Parcelles-Assainies fell to the opposition in the January 2022 local elections, where he played the role of coordinator for the Dakar region. Many within the ruling party have voiced their concerns over handing the party’s candidacy to someone who could not secure his stronghold.
As the government struggles to manage the crisis that has emerged from Sall’s decision, it must also work hard at holding its house together, pundits say. At the moment, President Sall walks a tightrope as the country struggles to come to terms with his decisions.
