Senegal's Government Sets March 24 as New Date for Presidential Election After Controversial Delay

On Wednesday, Senegalese President Macky Sall scheduled the country's presidential election for March 24 after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

According to Senegal's Constitutional Council, 19 candidates have filed to run in the election.

Senegal Announces New Election Date

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 24: President of Senegal Macky Sall addresses the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters on September 24, 2021 in New York City. More than 100 heads of state or government are attending the session in person, although the size of delegations are smaller due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
(Photo : John Angelillo - Pool/Getty Images)

According to the statement, the President of the Republic has informed the Council of Ministers about the new presidential election date. The election was initially slated for February 25 but was postponed by Sall, prompting protests across the West African nation, with young people burning tires in the streets.

However, the Constitutional Council rejected his attempts to postpone the election, which said it had to occur before April 2, when Sall's second and last term expires.

Earlier Wednesday, Sall dissolved the government and announced that Prime Minister Amadou Ba would be replaced with Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba to allow Ba, the ruling coalition's presidential candidate, to focus on his electoral campaign.

Ba reaffirmed his support for Sall's decisions and expressed gratitude for the president in a communique from the council of ministers.

Senegal Police, Protesters Clash Over Election Delay

According to Al Jazeera, security forces in Senegal have clashed with hundreds of protesters who are against the delay of the presidential election. Al Jazeera's Nicholas Haque reported from Dakar on Friday that police used tear gas on protesters to stop them from meeting and gathering to protest.

Haque said that there have been running battles between protesters and police and security forces. He claimed that most of the protesters were 18-year-olds, and they were barely 12 when Sall came to power.

Less than three weeks before the polls were scheduled, parliament voted to reschedule the elections for December 15, upholding Sall's earlier declaration of the postponement and sealing an extension of his mandate.

However, the move has sparked worries that one of West Africa's remaining healthy democracies may be in danger. Reuters news agency reported that some protesters in the capital waved Senegalese flags and yelled slogans like "Macky Sall is a dictator" on Friday.

Teachers at Dakar's Blaise Diagne High School responded to the call for protest, and hundreds of students left their morning classes. Assane Sene, a geography and history instructor, claimed it was only the beginning of the conflict. Sene said that if the government remained stubborn, they would have to try different approaches.

Sall, who has served the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution, claimed he postponed the elections due to a dispute over the candidate list that threatened the credibility of the electoral process. Furthermore, the decision has sparked anger on social media, and the opposition called it a "constitutional coup."

Some critics also accused Sall of attempting to hold onto power, while the West African bloc and foreign powers have denounced the move as a breach of Senegal's democratic history.