Just hours before official campaigning was supposed to begin, Senegalese President Macky Sall declared on Saturday that the presidential election slated for February 25 would be postponed indefinitely.
Sall stated in a speech to the country that he had issued an order eliminating an earlier statute that had set the deadline while lawmakers looked into the cases of two judges on the Constitutional Council whose impartiality in the election process has been called into doubt.
“I will begin an open national dialogue to bring together the conditions for a free, transparent and inclusive election,” Sall said without giving a new date.
The Senegalese presidential election faced its first-ever delay as a decree signed by President Sall in November 2023 initially scheduled the election for February 25, featuring 20 candidates but notably lacking two key opposition figures.
Despite Sall’s commitment to relinquish power to the victor in early April, complications arose.
Having declared his decision not to seek a third term, President Sall nominated Prime Minister Amadou Ba from his party as his potential successor.
The Constitutional Council, however, excluded numerous candidates, including Ousmane Sonko, a prominent anti-system figure, and Karim Wade, the son of former president Abdoulaye Wade.
Senegal’s Minister for Community Development, Therese Faye, advocated for a six-month postponement of the presidential poll, citing the electoral process’s tarnishment by irregularities, as stated in her Friday interview.
“I’m in favour of postponing the presidential election for at least six months,” she said, adding that she wanted “an inclusive and participatory presidential election”.
