The President of Senegal, Macky Sall, announced this Saturday in a speech to the nation that the presidential elections, scheduled to take place on February 25, will be postponed to a date to be determined. Sall explained this decisionwhich he expressed as a resolution of the National Assembly, in which There are “differences” between the Legislative Chamber and the Constitutional Councilregarding the screening of candidates with options to run in the elections. The list of twenty official candidates was published on January 20th, but the Senegalese president assures that this drastic decision was only taken on January 30th and then communicated to the population a few hours before the start of the election campaign.
After expressing the seriousness of what had happened, Sall expressed his interest in finding a “constitutional and legal procedure” to ensure the correct conduct of the elections, including announcing the creation of such a procedure a committee that emerged from the National Assembly to clarify the candidate review process. Even if he wanted to emphasize at this point his respect for the separation of powers, it is obvious that there is a clear interference with Senegalese democracy if this new committee is responsible for confirming the decisions of the judicial body, represented by the Constitutional Council.
The differences expressed by Macky Sall in his speech relate to Article 28 of the 2016 reformed Senegalese Constitution, which points to this “Any candidate for the presidency of the Republic must be of Senegalese nationality only”. The problem arises when several of the candidates appear to have dual French and Senegalese nationality. One of those affected in this regard is the candidate Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, who this Friday had to confirm that the only nationality he has is Senegalese, following allegations from candidates close to Sall. Dieye has repeatedly shown that he is willing to ally with the PASTEF party, led by Ousmane Sonko and considered Macky Sall’s biggest harasser throughout his presidential career.
However, and still relying on the Constitution, Article 31 stipulates that “the vote for the election of the President of the Republic will be carried out not more than forty-five days and at least thirty days before the expiry date of the mandate of the incumbent President of the Republic.” Postponing the elections to an indefinite date risks disrupting the electoral process is separated from the constitutional framework, which would mean that a serious blow to democracy Senegalese.
Regarding the candidate selection process, There are further disagreements involving Karim Wade and Ousmane Sonko. The first, son of former President Abdoulaye Wade (who was Sall’s mentor and predecessor), saw his candidacy rejected after his appearance in the Panama Papers due to previous convictions alleging his corrupt past; The second, Sonko, also had his application rejected after he was tried and convicted of “youth corruption” in June, while he is currently undergoing a trial that will hold him accountable the riots in Dakar last summer, in which 19 people died.
Wade was one of those most interested in setting up a commission to study the lists validated by the Constitutional Council. It recently accused two of its seven members of having ties to Prime Minister Amadou Ba, the candidate supported by Macky Sall.
And instead of the popular Ousmane Sonko, PASTEF presented Bassirou Diomaye Faye as a candidate, confirmed in the official lists of January 20 although he has been imprisoned since April 2023 “for contempt of court, defamation and acts likely to endanger the public peace.”. The Constitutional Council confirmed its decision that Faye had not yet been brought to trial, but it is now clear that Sall will do everything possible to reverse his candidacy.
Senegalese democracy is considered the strongest in West Africa. Since its independence in 1960, there have never been any coups or civil wars.Unlike the practical majority of its neighbors, there has always been a peaceful transfer of power within the constitutional framework. The current situation is historic and leaves Senegalese worried about their future. Khadim Bamba, a young Dakari who has supported the PASTEF party since its founding in 2014, puts it this way: “What is happening is bad, very bad. We want to move forward and forget Macky Sall, move forward, but (Sall) won’t let it happen. “He will not leave power until he is sure that his candidate will win the elections.”