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ECOWAS Tells Senegal to Hold Elections

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Controversies surround the election, which is unprecedented in a stable democracy like Senegal, to date a poster boy of the West European countries.  Deadly clashes were reported.  Sall announced that he would not seek a third term due to the disqualification of two opposition leaders by the highest election authority. ECOWAS has been struggling to contain a surge in coups in the region. Senegal’s presidential election has never been postponed.

West African Regional Bloc, ECOWAS, said that Senegalese authorities should hold the presidential election as scheduled instead of delaying it by 10 months. The same view was expressed by the United Nations human rights office, which termed the move to postpone the election as an unprecedented move in one of Africa’s most stable democracies.

As reported by www.trendsnafrica.com,President Macky Sall postponed the February. 25 vote, citing an electoral dispute between the parliament and the judiciary regarding some candidacies. Opposition leaders and candidates rejected the decision, calling it a coup. Several opposition lawmakers were blocked from voting on Monday as parliament rescheduled the election for December, prompting outrage and condemnation. Sall’s time in office had been set to end on April 2.

Read Also:

https://trendsnafrica.com/elections-in-senegal-postponed-for-six-months-term-of-macky-sall-extended/

https://trendsnafrica.com/senegal-restricts-internet-access-as-protests-against-postponement-of-election-continues/

Controversies surround the election, which is unprecedented in a stable democracy like Senegal, to date a poster boy of the West European countries.  Deadly clashes were reported.  Sall announced that he would not seek a third term due to the disqualification of two opposition leaders by the highest election authority. ECOWAS has been struggling to contain a surge in coups in the region. Senegal’s presidential election has never been postponed.