Senegal’s top election authority on Thursday voided the president’s postponement of a presidential election scheduled for February 25 and its rescheduling for December, ruling that the moves were unconstitutional.
Issued on: Modified:
1 min
Senegal‘s Constitutional Council cancelled the decree signed by President Macky Sall that postponed the election, according to a judgement approved by seven members of the body, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
The National Assembly’s move on February 5 to reschedule the vote for December 14 also was “contrary to the constitution”, the judgement said.
Opposition presidential candidates and lawmakers had filed a number of legal challenges to last week’s parliamentary bill, which also extended President Macky Sall’s mandate in what critics said amounted to an “institutional coup”.
Sall, who has been in power since 2012, sparked uproar on February 3 when he called off the elections over disputes about the disqualification of potential candidates and concern about a repeat of the unrest seen in 2021 and 2023.
Read moreSenegal’s democratic record on the line as presidential vote delay sparks crisis
Parliament backed Sall’s suspension of the election until December 15, but only after security forces stormed the building and removed some opposition lawmakers who opposed the bill.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, Reuters)
This story originally appeared on France24
