In the capital Dakar and other cities across the country, numerous demonstrators protested on Friday against the postponement of the presidential election to December, which was decided by Parliament at the beginning of the week. In Dakar, the police used tear gas against the protesters, among other things. Demonstrators threw stones at security forces and set up barricades.
Parliament voted on Monday to postpone the presidential election, originally scheduled for February 25th, to December 15th. Head of State Macky Sall had previously announced that he wanted to postpone the presidential election. The president justified this with a dispute between Parliament and the Constitutional Court over the rejection of candidates for the presidential election. Critics speak of an “institutional coup” and accuse Sall of wanting to stay in office longer.
The president has repeatedly stated that he does not want to run again in the election and has instead proposed Prime Minister Amadou Ba as his successor. The opposition accuses the government camp of wanting to avert a possible defeat for Ba by postponing the election. In addition, Sall will remain in office until an elected successor takes office. Senegal was previously seen as a role model for stability in West Africa – and now appears to be slipping more and more into a serious crisis.
