The “national dialogue” convened in Senegal for two days by Macky Sall has delivered its conclusions.

This forum resulted on Tuesday February 27 in a "broad consensus" on the fact that the presidential election could not take place before the end of the mandate of the current president - April 2 - and that he must remain in office until installation of his successor, many participants told AFP.

At least two participants, Amar Thioune and Mamadou Lamine Mané, reported a "broad consensus" around the fact that the vote could not take place before June 2.

Conclusions which go diametrically against the demands of the opposition and part of civil society, who form a broad front to demand that the presidential election – which was initially to be held on February 25 – take place before the 2 april.

These actors boycotted the "national dialogue" organized Monday and Tuesday by the president in the new town of Diamniadio to try to find an agreement on the date of the election and leave the country, renowned as one of the most stable in West Africa, one of the most serious crises it has gone through in decades.

The work of a commission on the date led to the observation almost shared by all that the vote could not take place before April 2, said four participants.

Work still at the recommendation stage

Six participants in another commission, on the post-April 2 organization, also reported, under cover of anonymity, a “broad consensus”, this time on the fact that Macky Sall – elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019 but not a candidate in 2024 – was to remain in office until the inauguration of his successor.

Participants proposed that the election take place in July, the same sources told AFP.

They reported the content of the discussions, not the content of a written document which no one specified whether it had been formatted.

The two commissions are supposed to deliver their conclusions to the head of state.

No indication was provided as to when he would rule.

He said last week that in the event of consensus, he would "immediately" issue the decree convening the voters.

Macky Sall said on Monday that he hoped the Senegalese would vote by the start of the rainy season, in June-July.

He cited factors complicating a quick hold, according to him, such as Ramadan in early March.

He has said several times in recent days that he will leave on April 2.

But he opened the way for an extension on Monday evening by declaring that he was ready "to stay again even if it is not my choice (...) because I am in a hurry to finish it and leave".

If they are endorsed by the Head of State, the recommendations of the "national dialogue" promise to be reasons of great irritation for the front which has been formed since Macky Sall decreed on February 3 a last minute postponement , causing a shockwave.

Demonstrations, repressed, left four dead and led to dozens of arrests.

Also readViolence in Senegal: the government and the opposition blame each other

“Partial reopening of the list of candidates”

On February 15, the Constitutional Council vetoed the postponement.

A possible extension of Macky Sall's mandate risks raising constitutional questions: the Council wrote on February 15 that he was to leave on April 2.

Macky Sall justified the postponement by citing the deep dissensions caused by the validation of the candidacies and the fear that after the deadly clashes of 2021 and 2023, a contested ballot would cause a new outbreak of fever.

The anti-postponement front suspects the president of playing for time, either to advantage his side because things would look bad for him in the presidential election, or to cling to power beyond April 2.

Seventeen of the 19 candidates selected in January by the Constitutional Council boycotted the “national dialogue”.

They are also worried that the “dialogue” will serve to start the validation of applications from scratch.

Amar Thioune and Mamadou Lamine Mané, two members of one of the commissions, reported broad convergence on a “partial reopening of the list of candidates”.

The citizen collective Aar Sunu ("Let's preserve our election") called Tuesday for a "dead cities" day and a general strike coinciding with the "dialogue".

The slogan seemed largely ignored in the central Plateau district and around the popular Colobane market in Dakar, where Saer Dieng, a 37-year-old trader, opened his clothing business.

“We live day by day, we can’t afford to go a day without working, otherwise our families won’t eat.”

With AFP

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application