Senegalese President Macky Sall has made the unprecedented decision to postpone the upcoming presidential elections, originally scheduled for later this month. In a decree announced on Saturday, President Sall cited controversies surrounding the disqualification of certain candidates and allegations of corruption in election-related cases. The decree repeals the law that convened the electoral body just as the campaign was set to commence for the February 25 election in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
President Sall, reiterating his commitment not to run, announced his intention to engage in an open national dialogue to establish the conditions for a free, transparent, and inclusive election. However, a new date for the vote was not provided. This move marks Senegal’s first direct universal suffrage presidential election delay since 1963, raising concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
The decision, made shortly before the election campaign’s kickoff, coincides with the establishment of a parliamentary commission tasked with investigating the integrity of two judges from the Constitutional Council. President Sall acknowledged concerns about the electoral process’s integrity and revoked the earlier decree setting the election for February 25.
Initially elected in 2012 for a seven-year term and re-elected in 2019 for five years, President Sall had previously declared that he would not seek another term, designating Prime Minister Amadou Ba as his successor. However, the Constitutional Council’s exclusion of several candidates, including opposition figures Ousmane Sonko and Karim Wade, stirred controversy.
The postponement has thrown the Senegalese political landscape into uncertainty, prompting questions about the country’s electoral process and the challenges faced by disqualified opposition candidates.