A vote in Senegal that Washington does not consider “legitimate”. The United States has been critical – one of the most virulent reactions from an important partner of Dakar – regarding the vote to postpone the presidential election and the extension of the mandate of President Macky Sall by the Senegalese parliament.

“The United States is deeply concerned by the measures taken to postpone the February 25 presidential election in Senegal, which go against the strong democratic tradition” of the country, said the State Department in a press release. .

They are "particularly alarmed" by the conditions in which the deputies ratified, on Monday, this postponement de facto decreed by President Macky Sall two days earlier and by the forcible evacuation by the gendarmes of the parliamentarians who opposed the vote , says the State Department. Given these circumstances, “the vote cannot be considered legitimate,” he adds.

American diplomacy “urges the government of Senegal to organize the presidential election in accordance with the Constitution and electoral laws.”

Read alsoSenegal: “There has been consternation since the Assembly approved the postponement of the presidential election”

One of the most serious institutional crises in Senegal since 1960

This is the sharpest reaction to date from an ally of Senegal to a last-minute change in the schedule that has sparked widespread outrage in Senegal, with cries of a "constitutional coup" from the of the opposition, and the concern of a certain number of foreign partners.

The West African organization Cédéao, of which Senegal is a member and within which he has constantly pleaded for respect for the constitutional order in other countries, encouraged him to "urgently take the necessary measures to restore the electoral calendar.

For the first time, the Senegalese, who were to elect their fifth president on February 25, will do so almost ten months later than planned, if things do not change by then.

Restoration of mobile Internet in Dakar

The authorities suspended mobile data Internet on Monday and Tuesday, an increasingly common means of stopping mobilizations. But access was restored on Wednesday, at least in the capital, where activity was returning to normal after having seriously slowed down for two days.

The emotion was widely expressed on social networks, but it barely reached the streets. Some gatherings were repressed by security forces. The opposition and the press reported dozens of arrests.

Three allied deputies or members of Pastef, Guy Marius Sagna, Abass Fall and Cheikh Aliou Beye, arrested Tuesday, were released, two officials from the party which had been at the forefront of the confrontation with power in 2021 told AFP and 2023. Pastef was dissolved by the authorities in 2023 and its numbers one and two, Ousmane Sonko and Bassirou Diomaye Faye, imprisoned.

The Constitutional Council disqualified Ousmane Sonko from the presidential election, but validated the candidacy of Bassirou Diomaye Faye. The latter, even in prison, established himself as a credible candidate for victory, a nightmare scenario for the presidential camp.

Candidates who want to campaign despite everything

After Monday's vote, Pastef as well as a certain number of candidates selected by the Constitutional Council affirmed their intention to campaign anyway. But their project is struggling to come to fruition.

The mandate of Macky Sall, elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019, expired on April 2.

By repealing on Saturday the decree summoning voters to the polls on February 25, he said he was drawing the consequences of the institutional conflict opened after the final approval of twenty candidacies and the invalidation of dozens of others in January.

He also invoked the accusations of corruption brought by the failed candidate Karim Wade against the Constitutional Council. He said he wanted to prevent any electoral disputes and further unrest.

The postponement, which should bring Senegal back to the starting point of a perilous electoral process whose constitutionality is strongly doubted, immediately heightened the suspicion of a plan by the presidential camp to avoid an announced defeat, or even to prolong the Sall presidency. The head of state reaffirmed his commitment not to run again.

With AFP

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