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Sall’s office, in a statement, said that it would ensure full compliance with the council’s decision and hold the elections as soon as possible. There was no mention of the date of holding the election in the statement
Senegal will hold a presidential election as soon as possible as the top election authority has overturned a decree by President Macky Sall to postpone the vote. Sall in early February sought to postpone the February—25 elections citing unresolved disputes over who could run for the post. Subsequently, the National Assembly voted to reschedule it for Dec. 15.
The country’s Constitutional Council ruled that those moves were unconstitutional and ordered the government to hold the election as soon as possible. The panel acknowledged that February 25 wouldn’t now be feasible, as enough time should be given for campaigning. However, the Court said that the government should act quickly.
Sall’s office, in a statement, said that it would ensure full compliance with the council’s decision and hold the elections as soon as possible. There was no mention of the date of holding the election in the statement. A poster boy of the Western world, Senegal was considered a stable democracy till the postponement of the elections to be held on 25th February allegedly without any valid reasons.
There was also an accusation that Sall was trying to cling to power by postponing the elections, which the president has declined. When the elections were declared earlier, Sall made things clear that he would not contest the elections. Even while postponing the elections, based on some corruption charges levelled against judges who scrutinized the papers of presidential aspirants, Sall proclaimed that he would not be a candidate for the next election.
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The Constitutional Council’s decision to hold the election in time was welcomed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and ECOWAS.
