The institutional crisis that Senegal has experienced in recent years, which has led to waves of protests and dozens of deaths in clashes with police, is nearing its peak. The match that lit the fuse was The announcement was made last Saturday by the country’s President, Macky Sall, as he informed the population that the presidential elections, scheduled to take place on February 25, will be postponed. He did not give a new date. This decision, which would stem from existing disagreements between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council regarding the validation of official candidates, is unprecedented since Senegal’s independence in 1960.
Sall reported that the National Assembly will set up a committee to oversee the decisions of the Constitutional Council, a decision that has left many Senegalese fearful of the separation of powers. The fact that it is ultimately the MPs who confirm the submitted candidacies would mean that the party with the largest presence is represented in parliament, which is exactly Macky Sall’s party, would have the final vote deciding who runs and who doesn’t. This jeopardizes the possibility that Bassirou Diomaye Faye, candidate of the pan-African party PASTEF and currently imprisoned for “contempt of court, defamation and acts likely to endanger public peace,” could run in the elections. Likewise, other candidates confirmed by the Constitutional Council were accused of having dual French and Senegalese nationality, while the African country’s constitution prohibits people with dual nationality from taking part in presidential elections. Despite everything, some of the candidates Sall’s opponent They decided to symbolically “launch” the election campaign on Sunday, which would have started on February 4 if the elections had taken place.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) expressed “concern over the circumstances that led to the postponement of the elections” in a recent statement and called for “priority to dialogue” within the national political class. Other African leaders, such as Guinea-Bissau President Sissoco Embaló, congratulated Sall on his decision and expressed support for the Senegalese president. The most critical position is found in the Alliance of Sahel States (comprising Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger), which accuses Sall of plotting an institutional coup and appeals for compliance with the Senegalese constitution. It should be recalled that the nations that make up the AES are currently ruled by a military junta that came to power through coups, which led to them recently announcing their withdrawal from ECOWAS.
There is little information available about Senegalese religious leaders, whose influence on national politics is generally recognized. Sall informed them that he would postpone the election before making his decision public, and they appear to support the president in this regard. Only the Christian bishops expressed concern about current events and called on Macky Sall to abide by the Senegalese constitution.
The protests began during the day on Sunday and intensified this Monday when thousands of citizens went to the National Assembly to speak out against the vote that would decide the procedure after the annulment of the elections. The last two days have seen repeated clashes with police, burned tires and appeals from civilians to the military to reject Sall’s authority. and proceed to seize power. There are also voices of dissatisfaction with ECOWAS’ muted response, which they say serves the interests of Macky Sall and ultimately France.
The government’s response to the protests has only further inflamed the atmosphere. Macky Sall ordered this Monday to block cell phone service to avoid “hate messages” and also banned the movement of motorcycles and mopeds in the capital. In Senegal, mobile telephony is essential in order to be able to use Orange Money, one of the population’s most popular means of payment, during the protests (Average age is 19 years) She regularly uses social networks to organize protest marches. This cut in mobile services by government order is the third in Senegal in the last nine months.
Senegalese democracy is considered the strongest in West Africa. Since its independence in 1960, unlike virtually the majority of its neighbors, there have never been any coups or civil wars, while the transfer of power has always been peaceful and constitutional. The suspicion that Sall intends to confirm the candidacy of Karim Wade, son of former President Abdoulaye Wade, breaks with Senegalese history and exacerbates the situation in the region while trying to exclude the most popular opponents from the election campaign. West Africa is already in a delicate situation due to widespread poverty, the fight against jihadism and coups in recent years.