Highlights: Senegalese civil society mobilizes against the postponement of the presidential election. In a forum, jurists from across the country and the diaspora challenged the head of state. They believe that Macky Sall has put in place "a plan to liquidate democracy " and they call on "the Senegaleses to take action against this crime ” “We have never gotten to this point in this country” says a professor of constitutional law, Babacar Gueye.

In Senegal, the mobilization of civil society is taking place to oppose the postponement of the presidential election, and to also oppose the fact that President Macky Sall remains in power until…

Senegalese civil society mobilizes against the postponement of the presidential election

In Senegal, the mobilization of civil society is taking place to oppose the postponement of the presidential election, to also oppose the fact that President Macky Sall remains in power until the election announced for December 15, 2024 .

Senegalese people during a demonstration at Plateau in Dakar, February 5, 2024. © JOHN WESSELS / AFP

By: RFI Follow

In a forum, jurists from across the country and the diaspora challenged the head of state, they believe that Macky Sall has put in place "

a plan to liquidate democracy

" and they call on "

the Senegalese to take action against this crime

.”

According to the professor of constitutional law,

Babacar Gueye

, professor at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, also president of the Collective of Civil Society Organizations for the Elections, this law “

seriously violates the Constitution

”. “

Now, I expect the Constitutional Council to take its responsibilities, because the Council has the habit of declaring itself incompetent each time it comes to reviewing the constitutionality of a constitutional law. I hope that this time, at least, since it is the future of our country that is at stake, the Council will declare this law unconstitutional

,” declares the law professor.

Speaking to RFI, Babacar Gueye said he was worried about the future of Senegal and its institutions: “

If he declares himself legally incompetent, this blow against democracy will triumph. Senegal was a bit of an exception in Africa from this point of view, but I believe that this exception is over, and I believe that Senegal will become the laughing stock in Africa.

“We have never gotten to this point in this country”

At the same time, the singer and former Minister of Tourism,

Youssou N'Dour

indicated "

to oppose the postponement of the election

": "

Our democratic meetings are essential to all of us and the sovereign people will be the last judge

The committed singer

Didier Awadi

, a convinced pan-Africanist, rare in the media on political issues, tells RFI that he is a knockout standing. “

There, we’re all really groggy. We followed the tragicomedy in the National Assembly. I saw people in the National Assembly who were supposed to explain to us why we had to postpone, I listened from start to finish, I didn't understand anything. I think that none of the Senegalese understood and so I just saw, on the other hand,

the gendarmes enter the National Assembly
and dislodge the opposition manu militari, and that added to my shock and to the scandal of everything. what is happening. We have never gotten to this point in this country. We must not hide our faces, we are in a very troubled area, the country will not be stable, people will be under tension, Senegal must not add another layer to the sub-regional tension. So we don't have a monopoly on wisdom.

One of the founding members of the

Y'en a marre

movement : Malal Talla, alias Fou Malad, rapper, believes for his part that civil society has always raised concerns about Macky Sall's management of power: “

Macky Sall persists in his desire to confiscate democracy, to effectively call into question all the democratic achievements since independence until then [...]. What Macky Sall did was a real institutional coup. Now, civil society has been warning for a very long time.

For Malal Talla, the Senegalese people will make their voice heard: “

What will happen is that the people are not happy. I think that Macky Sall must be truly afraid, must interpret, must lucidly analyze this silence of the population. Nobody knows when, but the streets will speak out because indeed, what is happening is an attack on the sovereignty of the Senegalese people. The people have understood that their will has been confiscated and the people will act in their own way.

Read alsoSenegal: arrest of opponents demonstrating against the postponement of the presidential election

Senegalese civil society mobilizes against the postponement of the presidential election

Senegalese civil society mobilizes against the postponement of the presidential election

“We have never gotten to this point in this country”

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest