07/03/2024
07/03/2024

DAKAR, Senegal, March 7, (AP): The Senegalese government has set March 24 as the new date for the country’s delayed presidential election, its spokesperson said Wednesday after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, also announcing the dissolution of the government and appointment of a new prime minister.
President Macky Sall, who is prevented for running for president again because of term limits, said in early February that he was postponing the election for 10 months, just weeks before it was set to take place on Feb 25. The announcement plunged Senegal into chaos as opposition protests filled the streets.
Senegal’s highest election authority, the Constitutional Council, rejected the move to delay the vote and ordered the government to set a new election date as soon as possible.
On Wednesday, following a meeting of the Council of Ministers, government spokesperson Abdou Karim Fofana said in the statement the president had informed the council that the date for the new election had been set for Sunday, March 24, 2024.”
"The President of the Republic also informed the Prime Minister and ministers of the formation of a new Government," the statement said.
Prime Minister Amadou Ba, an election frontrunner who has been endorsed by the outgoing president, was replaced by Sidiki Kaba who was the interior minister.
Wednesday's announcement came as news broke that the Constitutional Council had rejected a proposal by civil, political and religious leaders that the election be held on June 2.
Senegal's election authority, which now has less than three weeks to prepare for the crucial vote, did not immediately issue any public statement on the new date.