Senegal: President Macky Sall pledges to conduct election soon
Senegal’s president has vowed to hold the delayed election for his successor “as soon as possible” after the top court ruled his attempt to postpone it unconstitutional.
President Macky Sall, who has served two terms, faced backlash over his move to shift the vote to December, which was overturned by the Constitutional Council.
The Senegalese leader has come under intense pressure following his decision to postpone the poll, therefore extending his tenure in office longer than expected.
Protests erupted in the capital, Dakar, and other parts of the country, with about three people confirmed dead and several others injured in clashes with riot police.
Opposition parties have also raised legal charges against the president.
Despite the criticism, President Sall justified the move to change the date as necessary to prevent electoral chaos.
He denied that he was planning to reinvent himself as a dictator or non-democrat, as claimed by the opposition.
Senegal stands out as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies, being the sole country in the region to have never experienced a military coup.
The regional ECOWAS bloc, the AU, the US, and others have called for the restoration of the previous election calendar while calling for a peaceful transfer of power.
