Presidential election postponed in Senegal: understanding everything about the crisis the country is going through

Laura Laplaud with AFP 2:00 p.m., February 7, 2024

The Parliament of Senegal ratified in great confusion the bill aiming to postpone the presidential election from February 25 to December 15, a vote which plunges the country into the unknown on Tuesday and raises fears of boiling over. Accusations of corruption, political maneuvering, what is happening in Senegal?

By announcing the postponement of the presidential election, scheduled for February 25, the Senegalese head of state Macky Sall took an unprecedented decision. This is the first time since 1963 that a presidential election by direct universal suffrage has been postponed in Senegal, a country presented as an island of stability in Africa.

A “constitutional coup d’état” denounced

The president elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019 made the announcement on Saturday in a brief intervention on public television, a few hours before the opening of the campaign. “Our country has been confronted for several days with a dispute between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council, in open conflict against the backdrop of an alleged case of corruption of judges,” he said. Senegal cannot “afford a new crisis” after deadly unrest in March 2021 and June 2023, he added, announcing “a national dialogue” for “a free, transparent and inclusive election” and reiterating its commitment to not be a candidate. 

A decision virulently denounced on Sunday by its detractors as a “constitutional coup d’état”. Since then, gatherings have been repressed, Internet access was cut on Monday and restored on Wednesday. A means already used by the Senegalese government in June 2023, in a context of political crisis. “We feel that there is a police state that is being established, it is not quite the first time because it had already done so in June. But this time, it is different, because it is about protecting a decision judged by most Senegalese to be illegal,” reports Caroline Roussy, research director at IRIS and head of the Africa/s Program.

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Parliament voted almost unanimously on Monday for a law postponing the presidential election from February 25 to December 15 and extending the mandate of outgoing President Macky Sall. 

A plan to avoid the defeat of the presidential camp?

What was Macky Sall referring to when he spoke of "a dispute between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council"? In January, the Constitutional Council validated 20 candidates, a record, but excluded dozens of contenders from the ballot. Among them, two opposition leaders: the anti-system candidate Ousmane Sonko, in prison since July 2023 notably for calling for insurrection and disqualified by the Council following a conviction for defamation in a separate case, and Karim Wade , minister and son of ex-president Abdoulaye Wade (2000-2012), due to his dual Franco-Senegalese nationality.

Any candidate “must be exclusively of Senegalese nationality”, says the Constitution. However, a presidential candidate, Rose Wardini, was qualified even though she also has dual nationality. Karim Wade questioned the integrity of two of the seven constitutional judges, accusing them of corruption. On his initiative, the Assembly approved last week the creation of a commission of inquiry into the conditions of validation of candidacies. 

But another reason could explain the postponement of the presidential election: the fear of a defeat by the presidential camp. "There is a second level of reading [to this crisis] which is unofficial, but which seems a little more coherent, it is that Macky Sall had relations which were deteriorating with his Prime Minister candidate and he also observed that his candidate" did not bring together, reports Caroline Roussy. “The party of Macky Sall and his coalition have no reserve of votes. They are afraid of losing face and losing power. The Senegalese are not fooled,” explains the research director at IRIS.

Senegal, one of the most stable countries in Africa

While there have been several coups d'état in recent years in West Africa, Senegal has not experienced any, a rarity on the continent. Senegal has elected all its presidents by universal suffrage since 1963 and has even changed them at the ballot box. “What would be worrying is that Macky Sall plunges the country into chronic political, social and economic instability. It is dramatic because everything that had been built, the image of Senghor admired abroad, etc. ", it's an entire model of representation that is collapsing", regrets Caroline Roussy, research director at IRIS and head of the Africa/s Program.

The Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, the United States, the European Union, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, important partners of Senegal, expressed their worry. Many rights defense organizations, Senegalese and international, have condemned the internet restrictions as well as the suspension of the license of the private television station Walf TV. The United States also said it was “deeply concerned” by the situation and affirmed that the vote to postpone the presidential election “cannot be considered legitimate”.