US welcomes restoration of Senegal's presidential electoral calendar
Washington, DC, US (PANA) - The United States has welcomed the decision by Senegal’s Constitutional Council to restore the presidential electoral calendar in accordance with Senegal’s constitution and called for the poll to be conducted in a "peaceful and timely manner".
A statement on Friday by Mr. Matthew Miller, Spokesperson for the Department of State, said the US has also noted Senegalese President Macky Sall’s announcement that he will fully implement the Constitutional Council’s decision and take the necessary steps to organise the election as quickly as possible.
"We urge all stakeholders to come together in the spirit of Senegal’s strong democratic tradition to support a free and fair election conducted in a peaceful and timely manner," the US said.
The West African country was thrown into a political crisis when President Sall issued a decree on 3 February to delay the election that was scheduled for 25 February. The National Assembly in its session on 5 February then adopted a law fixing 15 December as the new date for the polls. President Sall's second term ends on 2 April.
These were met by loud objections by the opposition and stoked violence in the streets in which at least three people were killed and scores arrested.
"It is quite simply a constitutional coup d'état, orchestrated by the regime in place, in complicity with ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), the European Union," said Biram Souleye Diop, leader of the opposition parliamentary coalition, Yewwi Askan Wi.
MP and candidate for the presidential election, Thierno Alassane Sall, denounced the bill as "illegal".
But the Constitutional Council last Thursday struck down as "unconstitutional" a controversial law postponing the poll and cancelled the decree by President Sall that repealed a law under which the election was scheduled for 25 February.
The Council asked the authorities to organise the election as soon as possible.
On Friday, President Sall pledged “to fully implement” the verdict of the Constitutional Council and carry out, "without delay" and "as soon as possible", the "necessary consultations" for the organisation of the presidential election.
This will appease the opposition and activists who vehemently opposed the change of the electoral calendar leading to protests.
Demonstrations broke out in the capital, Dakar, and several other cities after President Sall announced that presidential elections would be delayed.
Human rights groups said elsewhere in the country, including Mbour, Mbacké, Tivaoune, Touba, Saint-Louis, and Ziguinchor, security forces apparently used excessive force to disperse protesters.
Last Tuesday, the Senegalese authorities cut the internet for the second time in one week and the Prefect of Dakar, Cherif Mouhamadou Blondin Ndiaye, banned a protest march on Tuesday that was called in tribute to the three people who died during protests.
The Minister of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital, Moussa Bocar Thiam, said the internet was cut because of "the dissemination on social networks of several hateful and subversive messages ... that have caused violent demonstrations with deaths and significant material damage".
There was a flurry of diplomatic activity to avert an escalation of the crisis and violence.
The ECOWAS Commission, the United States, African Union Commission, European Commission and Gambia were among organisations and countries that expressed alarm at the crisis and called for the restoration of the electoral calendar.
-0- PANA MA 17Feb2024
