DAKAR, Senegal, Feb 17, (AP): Senegal will hold a presidential election as soon as possible given that the country's top election authority has overturned a decree by President Macky Sall to postpone the vote, the government said Friday.
Sall in early February sought to postpone the Feb 25 election citing unresolved disputes over who could run, and the National Assembly voted to reschedule it for Dec 15.
However, the country's Constitutional Council ruled Thursday that those moves were unconstitutional and ordered the government to hold the election as soon as possible, presumably allowing enough time for campaigning. The panel acknowledged that Feb 25 wouldn't now be feasible, but said the government should act quickly.
In a statement Friday, presidential spokesperson Yoro Dia said that Sall intends to ensure full compliance with the council's decision and hold the elections as soon as possible, though the government didn't yet specify a new date.
Senegal has been seen as one of the region's most stable democracies, but election disputes have plunged the country into a political crisis that has sparked deadly protests and cuts to mobile internet. At least three people have been killed by security forces and dozens injured.
Sall has been accused of trying to delay leaving office, something he denied to during an AP interview last week.
Local and international pressure has mounted since the moves to delay the vote.
In a post Friday on X, formerly Twitter, the US Bureau of African Affairs commended the council's decision "to put Senegal back on track for a timely presidential election."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted the Constitutional Council’s ruling and the president’s decision and urged all Senegalese parties "to ensure the holding of an inclusive and transparent presidential election within the framework of the constitution of Senegal,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Also on Friday The West African region bloc, ECOWAS, said in a statement Friday that Sall should stick to the election timetable, and requested the "competent authorities” to set a date for the presidential election in accordance with the council's decision.