The Senegalese head of state Macky Sall pledged, this Friday, February 16, to organize the presidential election “as soon as possible”, after the veto put by the Constitutional Council on his decision to postpone the election initially scheduled for the end of February .
The Constitutional Council on Thursday invalidated the postponement of the presidential election until December 15 and asked the authorities to hold the vote “as soon as possible”. Macky Sall “intends to fully implement the Council’s decision” and “will without delay carry out the necessary consultations for the organization of the presidential election as soon as possible”, his services said in a press release.
The vote, initially scheduled for February 25, had been postponed until December. Macky Sall, in power since 2012, justified this decision by the quarrels sparked by the pre-electoral process and his fear that a contested ballot would provoke new outbreaks of violence.
This postponement provoked an outcry from the opposition and civil society who cried out for a “constitutional coup”. Major protests have taken place across the country in recent weeks. Several dozen opponents, arrested in connection with the political unrest of recent years, were released on Thursday February 15. “International pressure is causing President Macky Sall to order releases,” Souleymane Djim, a member of the Collective of Families of Political Prisoners, told AFP.