Those who blame African military over staging military coup are nowhere to be heard from right now, when crooked Macky Sall decides on his own to postpone the February 2024 presidential election sine die (with no new date set for a new election) , after failing to change the constitution and run for a 3rd term. The guy deserves nothing but get overthrown by the armed forces.
African News
Last updated: 03/02 - 17:45
Senegalese President Macky Sall postponed the presidential elections due later this month in a decree announced on Saturday, citing controversies over the disqualification of some candidates and allegations of corruption in election-related cases.
Sall said he signed a decree repealing the law that convened the electoral body just as campaigning was set to begin for Feb. 25 election, in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
"For my part, my solemn commitment not to run in the presidential election remains unchanged, finally, I will engage in an open national dialogue to bring together the conditions for a free, transparent and inclusive election," the Senegalese leader said, without announcing a new date for the vote.
The decision comes just hours before the start of the election campaign and follows the establishment of a parliamentary commission investigating the integrity of two judges from the Constitutional Council.
President Sall revealed that he had revoked his earlier decree, which set the election for February 25, after concerns were raised about the integrity of the electoral process. This unprecedented move in Senegal marks the first direct universal suffrage presidential election delay since 1963.
In his address, President Sall expressed his commitment to initiating an open national dialogue to ensure conditions for a free, transparent, and inclusive election, although he did not specify a new date.
Initially elected in 2012 for a seven-year term and re-elected in 2019 for five years, President Sall had earlier declared that he would not seek another term, designating Prime Minister Amadou Ba as his successor.
The Constitutional Council had excluded several candidates from the election, including opposition figures Ousmane Sonko and Karim Wade, sparking controversy.
The political landscape in Senegal is now in flux, with the postponement raising questions about the country's electoral process and the challenges faced by the opposition candidates who were disqualified.
https://www.africanews.com/2024/02/03/senegals-macky-sall-postpones-presidential-election//
The New York Times
Ruth MacleanMady Camara
By Ruth Maclean and Mady Camara
Reporting from Dakar, Senegal
Feb. 3, 2024
Senegal’s President Calls Off a National Election. His Critics Call It a Coup.
The West African country had planned to hold an election in three weeks. But President Macky Sall canceled it indefinitely pending an inquiry into corruption allegations at the constitutional court.
Senegal’s president has canceled the election for his replacement three weeks before voting was set to take place, saying that a dispute between the legislative and judicial arms of government needed to be resolved first.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/03/world/africa/senegal-president-cancels-election.html
Senegal election: Concerns grow as President Macky Sall fails to set new election date
4th February 2024, 12:48 EST
By Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service
There is international concern about the political situation in Senegal after President Macky Sall called off this month's election citing a row over the eligibility of candidates.
The West African regional bloc Ecowas and the US urged the authorities to clarify when the vote will take place, as no new date was set.
France and the EU have also called for an election as soon as possible.
Police have fired tear gas at pockets of demonstrators in the capital.
The scenes in Dakar are a worrying sign of what may be ahead and more protests have been called for Monday.
Senegal has been seen as one of the most stable democracies in West Africa, but uncertainty over when people will get a chance to vote as well as suspicion that the electoral race is not free and fair is undermining this image.
President Sall's reiteration that he will not run for a third term had been welcomed, but there is worry about the consequences of a lack of an electoral timetable. The vote was supposed to have taken place in three weeks' time.
Uncertainty has played a role in deadly protests in the past as has the opposition allegation that politically motivated cases were being brought against potential candidates.
For months, speculation that Mr Sall was seeking a third term fueled opposition protests that led to violence and many deaths. He finally declared he was not seeking a third term last July.
An opposition candidate called the president's decision to postpone the election a constitutional coup.
Khalifa Sall, former mayor of the capital, Dakar - and no relation of the president - urged people to protest against the move and his political coalition has pledged to go to court.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68194644
|
