China News Service, February 4 (Xinhua) According to foreign media reports, on the 3rd local time, President Sall of Senegal, a West African country, announced that the presidential election originally scheduled for February 25 would be postponed. According to reports, this is the first time that Senegal’s presidential election has been postponed.
According to Reuters, in a speech to the nation that day, Sall said that due to problems with the election, he had signed a decree to cancel the laws related to it. “These ambiguities could sow the seeds for pre- and post-election litigation that could severely damage the credibility of the election,” Salle said.
According to reports, with more than three weeks to go before the vote, the opposition Senegalese Democratic Party formally submitted a request to postpone the election. The party's 2024 presidential candidates, Karim Wade, the son of former President Abdoulaye Wade, and opposition leader Sonko failed to pass the qualification review of Senegal's Constitutional Council.
The excluded presidential candidates claimed that the rules of candidacy were not enforced fairly. However, authorities deny the charges. Lawmakers are currently investigating two Constitutional Council judges responsible for election-related work.
According to Agence France-Presse, Sall did not announce a new voting day, but said that a national dialogue would be held to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.
Sall also said that postponing the election would not affect his decision not to run for a third term.
Senegal was originally scheduled to hold a presidential election on February 25, with a total of 20 candidates running. The term of the President of Senegal was originally 7 years, renewable for one term. In March 2016, the Senegalese Parliament passed a constitutional amendment stipulating that the term of the president elected in 2019 will be changed from 7 years to 5 years.
Sall was elected president twice, in the 2012 and 2019 elections.