Representatives begin discussing the text of postponing the elections

In a tense atmosphere, on Monday, February 5, Senegalese representatives began discussing a text on postponing the presidential elections for several months, according to what an Agence France-Presse journalist reported. the The report adopted by the Preparatory Committee the previous day proposes postponing the presidential elections scheduled for February 25 by six months or even a year, until February 2025, depending on the content of this text circulated at the meeting. The goal would be to postponeTo avoid institutional instability and serious political unrest.”And the leadership of A“Full resumption of the electoral process”“, says the report. Follow our live broadcast.

A vote with an uncertain result. The draft law implementing the declaration of the Senegalese head of state would postpone the election date for a maximum of six months. Approval, which requires a three-fifths majority of the 165 representatives, is not a given. Gendarmerie forces intervened to disperse a gathering in front of the National Assembly in Dakar. Agence France-Presse journalists noted that mobile Internet service was interrupted at least in several neighborhoods in the capital on Monday.

Decision of President Macky Sall. On Saturday, a few hours before the scheduled opening of the election campaign, Macky Sall announced that he had signed the decree postponing the presidential elections scheduled for February 25. This is the first time since 1963 that presidential elections by direct universal suffrage have been postponed in Senegal, a country that has never experienced a coup, a rarity on the continent.

The rejection of some applications has been appealed. These unrest come in the wake of a conflict between the National Assembly and the Senegalese Constitutional Council. In January, it approved twenty presidential nominations, but rejected the nominations of two opposition figures: Ousmane Sonko, who has been imprisoned since July, and Karim Wade, a minister and son of a former president. The latter questioned the integrity of two constitutional judges, and the representatives agreed to establish an investigation committee with the votes of part of the presidential camp.

A country rocked by deadly unrest since 2021. Macky Sall's announcement caused a sensation and raised fears of a fever outbreak in a country known as an island of stability in West Africa, but which has witnessed various episodes of deadly unrest since 2021.