DAKAR, Senegal: Senegal’s top constitutional body on Thursday overturned the president’s postponement of presidential elections scheduled for February 25 to December, saying the moves were unconstitutional.
Senegal’s Constitutional Council annulled a decree signed by President Macky Salle that postponed the election, according to a ruling approved by seven members of the body.
The National Assembly’s February 5 move to postpone the vote to December 14 was also “unconstitutional,” the ruling said.
Opposition presidential candidates and lawmakers filed a series of legal challenges to last week’s parliamentary proposal, which also extended President Macky Sall’s mandate in what critics said was an “institutional coup”.
Sall, who has been in power since 2012, caused an uproar on February 3 when he called off the election amid disputes over the disqualification of potential candidates and fears of a repeat of the 2021 and 2023 riots.
Parliament supported Sall’s suspension of the election until December 15, but only after security forces stormed the building and removed some opposition lawmakers who opposed the bill.
The postponement of a planned vote in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies sparked violent protests that left three people dead and dozens arrested.
The move was also condemned by Senegal’s main international partners, who called on the government to hold elections as soon as possible, fearing violent unrest.
The opposition and civil society groups issued new calls for demonstrations on Friday.
Earlier on Thursday, several government opponents were released from prison, their lawyers told AFP in what appeared to be an attempt to calm public opinion.
“Most of my clients in politically motivated cases have been released,” lawyer Cheikh Koureissy Ba told AFP, adding that this involved several dozen detainees.
Another lawyer, Moussa Sarr, provided AFP with a list of several dismissed opponents.
The list included Aliou Sane, the coordinator of the civil opposition movement “Y’en a marre” (I’ve had enough), Djamil Sane, the mayor of the Dakar district, and several members of the disbanded opposition party Pastef – led by opposition puppet Ousmane Sonko.
“As a result of international pressure, President Macky Sall is ordering the release,” said Souleymane Djim, a member of the Collective of Families of Political Prisoners.
Sonko – who is one of Salla’s leading opponents – and his second-in-command, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, have been detained since 2023.
