It’s a gesture to try to calm the situation. After plunging his country into a major political crisis by announcing the postponement of the presidential election, the Senegalese head of state Macky Sall announced this Monday, February 26, a general amnesty bill for facts linked to known unrest by his country since 2021.
“In a spirit of national reconciliation, I will submit to the National Assembly this Wednesday in the Council of Ministers a general amnesty bill on the facts relating to political demonstrations occurring between 2021 and 2024,” said the president Sall by opening consultations in Diamniadio, near Dakar, to try to find an agreement on the date of the presidential election. “This will help pacify the political space and further strengthen our national cohesion,” he said.
Many opponents have been arrested by the regime in place since 2021, and the start of legal proceedings against opposition figure Ousmane Sonko, incarcerated since July 2023 and whose candidacy had been invalidated for the next presidential election . His replacement for the election, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, has also been in preventive detention since April 2023. It remains to be seen who will be affected by this amnesty project, while Macky Sall said he was “ready” there has a few days to release Ousmane Sonko to move towards “peaceful” elections.
The presidential election before July?
President Macky Sall also affirmed his wish to organize the presidential election by June-July, while a vast front is demanding it before April 2. “My will and my dearest wish is to hold the presidential election as soon as possible and before the next winter (the rainy season), and in peace,” he said.
He reaffirmed his commitment to leave the presidency on the official expiration date of his mandate, April 2. “By convening this dialogue, I have only one concern: finding a consensus on the date of the next presidential election so that the vote takes place in the best conditions,” assured Macky Sall.