Senegal’s opposition PDS says ready for national dialogue after Constitutional Council decision; calls for re-evaluation of candidate selection process.

The opposition Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) and its campaign wing for its presidential candidate, Abdulkarim Wade, Karim 2024 (K24) coalition, called a press conference on February 19, in Dakar, where they expressed their position following the recent decision of the Constitutional Council concerning the postponement of the presidential election.

The decision by the council to annull the decree of President Macky Sall that initially postponed the February 25, 2024 elections as well as the law passed by the National Assembly postponing the election to December 15, 2024, has stirred mixed reactions across the country.

The K24 coalition said it took note of the decision of the Constitutional Council, considering it as a consequence of failures in the electoral process.

The coalition also announced its participation in the national dialogue, without delay, as announced by President Sall.

The PDS and its allies demand that the conclusions of this dialogue would lead to a strong consensus between all the actors involved. This is to allow the electoral process to be restarted from the beginning, with the aim of rectifying the errors of the Constitutional Council, and ensuring that their candidate, Wade, has the possibility of being a presidential candidate.

In addition, the PDS stressed the importance of the creation of a Constitutional Court, arguing that its absence is one of the reasons that pushed them to propose a law to the National Assembly. The party recalled the imperative for the president to act in the best interests of the nation and to lead broad consultations.

This press conference comes on the heels of a series of events marked by political tensions, notably the request for the opening of a parliamentary commission of inquiry, following accusation of corruption levelled against members of the Constitutional Council by the deputies of Wallu Senegal, an opposition political coalition led by the 97-year-old ex-president of Senegal, and Karim Wade’s father, Abdoulaye Wade, and the PDS.

These events led to the adoption of a bill postponing the presidential election, which led to heated controversies and the forced eviction of some opposition members from the legislative chamber.

The PDS and the K24 coalition reiterate their commitment to fully participate in a national dialogue with a view to ensuring a peaceful, inclusive, transparent and non-contestable presidential election.

The PDS’s support for Sall’s postponement of the elections and his calls for a review of the process by which the Constitutional Council selected the presidential candidates follows its protest against the Council’s decision to invalidate the candidacy of Wade.

A reappraisal of the Council’s decision, it is believed, may afford Wade the opportunity to be reconsidered as a last minute decree signed by the new French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, releasing him from his allegiance to France makes him eligible to run.

Wade, who lived in exile in Qatar for the past eight years, is determined to run for Senegal’s top office, forging an unexpected alliance with Members of Parliament from President President Sall’s camp.