Senegal’s Macky Sall postpones presidential poll in move critics say amounts to ‘institutional coup’
- The decision, which follows a controversy over the exclusion of some prominent contenders from the poll, which is in less than a month
- Mack himself is not running for a third term, but the delay puts the country in uncharted constitutional waters and could prove a threat to stability
President Macky Sall postponed Senegal’s planned February 25 presidential election, announcing in a televised address to the nation that he had cancelled the relevant law due to electoral issues he warned would fuel disputes.
With little more than three weeks to go before the vote, the unprecedented step on Saturday of delaying the poll, to an unspecified date, pitches Senegal into uncharted constitutional waters that some opposition and civil society groups said amounted to an “institutional coup”.
One opposition coalition has already vowed to challenge the move in the courts, raising the prospect of a protracted legal battle that could further muddy the democratic outlook.
Sall’s decision follows the constitutional council’s January decision to exclude some prominent contenders from the electoral list, which has fanned discontent about the election process.
“These troubled conditions could seriously undermine the credibility of the ballot by sowing the seeds of pre- and post-electoral disputes,” Sall said in his address.
He did not set a new date for the vote, but said a parliamentary inquiry had been set up to look into how candidates were verified and any other issues, and that a national dialogue would also take place to ensure the eventual election is free, fair and transparent.
He said the postponement would not affect his decision not to run for a third term – an issue that has helped provoke recurrent and sometimes deadly protests in what is normally one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
