Senegalese political parties welcome election postponement decision

President Macky Sall has yet to react to the Constitutional Court's decision to annul the date of 15 December for the presidential election.

Senegal's top election authority voided the president's postponement of a presidential election scheduled for February 25.

It ruled that the decision to do so is unconstitutional. 

The decision has been widely welcomed across the political spectrum.

Over the past two weeks, critics have accused Sall, who has been in power since 2012, of tampering with the election calendar to avoid defeat.

Seydou Gueye, a spokesman for the APR party to which Macky Sall belongs, told RFI this Friday morning that it would now be very difficult to schedule another election before the end of Sall's mandate, on 2 April,

Apart from the organisational issues, Ramadan is in March this year, which would make organising a poll difficult.

• Senegal's Constitutional council overturns delay of presidential vote

However,  members of the what used to be the Pastef party insist on a vote as soon as possible.

The party members, which also belong to the Aar Sunu Election ("Let's protect our election") collective say they will be staging protests over the weekend.

Election date 

Former prime minister Aminata Touré, who was arrested during the protests on 4 February, said the decision underlines the strength of democracy in Senegal.

"This decision restores the image of democracy in Senegal," she told RFI. "The violations were so flagrant that the Constitutional Council put an end to all of that."

The decision was also welcomed by the leader of the former Pastef party, led by Ousmane Sonko, through the voice of his senior collaborator Amadou Ba.

“It's a great satisfaction," he said. "The Council was not fooled by the manoeuvre which consisted of postponing the presidential election and, surreptitiously, extending the mandate of the president of the Republic.”

Almost all Senegalese newspapers and news sites published the 5 pages of the Constitutional Council's decision.

Most politicians and political organisations  in Senegal  said they wanted the election to take place before the end of Sall's mandate.

Some proposed  mid-March with room for an eventual second round, if the leading candidate doesn't obtain 51% of the vote in the first round.

International relief

In the wider region, the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) urged "compliance with Senegal's Constitutional Council decision to postpone the presidential election", emphasising "the importance of inclusive dialogue and adherence to the rule of law for a transparent election process."

The African Union, which will be holding its annual summit on 17-18 February in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, hasn't reacted yet. 

Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's Secretary General, also wrote on social media that "the judges have spoken: the Constitutional Court invalidates the postponement of the presidential election decided by Macky Sall. This is an important democratic upsurge. The decision must now be fully respected."

Finally, the European Union on Friday urged all parties in Senegal to respect the latest decision.

Elsewhere, more than 130 political prisoners have  been released from prison since Thursday, in a move by President Macky Sall to appease public opinion.

Sall, who has been in power since 2012, said he postponed the votebecause of disputeds about the disqualification of potential candidates.

 (with newswires)