NEWS- The Senegal’s Constitutional Council has ruled that Parliament’s unprecedented postponement of the February 25th 2024 presidential elections was not in line with the constitution.
This ruling has now pitching the country into a new phase of electoral uncertainty, as President Macky Sall insisted that he postponed the election because
This comes after the Opposition Presidential candidates and some Members of Parliament last week filed several legal challenges to the bill that delayed the vote to December 15th 2024 which automatically extended President Macky Sall’s mandate in what critics said amounted to an institutional coup.
The standoff has fueled widespread unrest and raised international concerns that one of the remaining democracies in coup-hit West Africa is under threat.
In the latest twist, the Constitutional Council decided that the postponement law is contrary to the constitution and the council also ruled to cancel a decree announced by President Sall ahead of the vote that had set the postponement in motion.
What happens next is unclear and President Sall, who is not standing in the vote and has reached the constitutional limit of two terms in power, said he delayed the election because of a dispute over the candidate list and alleged corruption within the Constitutional Council.
In its decision, the council did not specify when the election should be held and there are only 10 days left before the original poll date, and most candidates have not been campaigning since President Sall issued his decree on February 3rd 2024, hours before campaigns were meant to kick off.
An opposition candidate and former Minister Ali Ngouille Ndiaye said that the council’s decision has left a window of opportunity open for discussion to save the situation.
Additional Reporting by Associated Press
