Senegal’s President announced on Saturday the indefinite postponement of the presidential election scheduled for February 25, following the opening of a parliamentary inquiry targeting two judges of the Constitutional Council. For the presidential camp, this decision is the only way to protect the credibility of the election. The opposition, on the other hand, condemns a political maneuver allowing the president to retain power.

Senegal is now plunged into uncertainty as hours before the opening of the campaign for the 20 candidates vying for the presidential election on February 25, President Macky Sall announced, during a televised address on Saturday, February 3, the indefinite postponement of the election.

“Our country has been facing a dispute between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council for the past few days, in an open conflict over a supposed case of judges’ corruption,” he explained.

Believing that Senegal cannot “afford a new crisis” after the episodes of violence in March 2021 and June 2023, the president announced the establishment of a “national dialogue” for “a free, transparent, and inclusive election,” reaffirming his commitment not to run for re-election.

Macky Sall’s announcement was a bombshell to the opposition, who accuse the president of wanting to illegally extend his stay in power.

Suspected corrupt judges

This political crisis stems from the exclusion of Karim Wade’s candidacy for the presidency. The candidate was removed from the race because he still held French nationality when he submitted his application. According to the Constitution, only Senegalese candidates and only Senegalese can compete.

In response, his party demanded a parliamentary inquiry to shed light on the conditions for eliminating candidates. Supporters of Karim Wade say they suspect two judges of the Constitutional Council of having “questionable connections” with some of them, notably Amadou Ba, Prime Minister and designated successor of Macky Sall.

Last Thursday, Senegalese members of the parliament overwhelmingly approved the creation of the parliamentary inquiry commission. In parallel, another candidate, Rose Wardini, whose candidacy was validated by the Constitutional Council, was placed in custody for “forgery and use of forged documents and fraud on the judgment,” suspected of also having dual French-Senegalese nationality.

Political maneuver?

For President Macky Sall, these happenings are serious enough to interrupt the due course of the election. “These troubled conditions could seriously harm the credibility of the election by instilling the seeds of pre- and post-electoral litigation.”

But Macky Sall’s decision raises many questions in Senegal, notably because the parliamentarians of the ruling party voted in favor of the creation of this inquiry commission. While they claim to want to clear the name of their candidate Amadou Ba, the opposition denounces a maneuver aimed at sabotaging the presidential election and avoiding the defeat of the majority candidate.

“We have never seen a presidential election postponed in Senegal, that’s on Macky Sall’s record,” criticized former Prime Minister Aminata Touré. “We are ready to go to the election, he knows very well that his candidate will be defeated in the first round,” hammered the former ally of Macky Sall, who’s been excluded from the presidential race by the Constitutional Council.

Contested within his own camp, Prime Minister Amadou Ba faces two dissident candidacies: those of former Interior Minister Aly Ngouille Ndiaye, and former Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, who was once the chief of staff to the president.

But according to the general opinion, the main threat comes from Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the main opposition candidate chosen by Ousmane Sonko to replace him in the presidential election, following the invalidation of his candidacy.

Reacting to the decision to interrupt the election, Amadou Ba, a jurist and supporter of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, criticized arguments “of unprecedented lightness,” indicating that the parliamentary inquiry commission was set up only on “simple suspicions of corruption.”

Seydou Gaye, the spokesperson for the ruling party APR, on the contrary, speaks of “a very heavy pre-electoral dispute,” affirming that the Constitutional Council must be “above all suspicion.” The “transparency and sincerity” of the election are the priorities of Macky Sall, who, according to him, cannot be “suspected of wanting to keep power, to remain there, or to be a candidate.”
Uncertain territory

Since the president’s announcement, criticism has been pouring in, far beyond his political opponents. The ad hoc facilitation committee, composed of several civil society organizations, condemned the postponement of the election, criticizing “a unilateral and abrupt halt to the electoral process.”

The Ad Hoc Facilitation Committee notes a serious institutional rupture that Senegal has never experienced since its independence and condemns the postponement of the presidential election scheduled for Sunday, February 25, 2024.

Statement signed by Dean Alioune Tine and Co… pic.twitter.com/nooUyiLT6G
– Ayoba FAYE (@autruicomoi) February 3, 2024

In his speech, the president gave no indication of the future electoral calendar, calling for an “open national dialogue to create the conditions for a free, transparent, and inclusive election.” The National Assembly bureau adopted on Saturday a bill proposal, initiated by the Karim Wade coalition, for a “maximum six-month postponement.” A deadline that could lead President Macky Sall to remain in power beyond the end of his second term, which is supposed to end on April 2.

In their statement, the members of the ad hoc committee emphasized the importance of “respecting the provisions of the Constitution regarding the duration of the president’s term.”

Others question the legality of Macky Sall’s decision to annul the presidential election by decree. “Respectful of the separation of powers, I cannot intervene in the conflict between the legislative and judicial powers,” affirmed the president, justifying the interruption of the electoral process.

But for Babacar Gueye, professor of constitutional law at Cheikh-Anta-Diop University in Dakar, this decision “is not based on any valid legal basis.” The president is the guarantor of the institutions, and the opening of the parliamentary inquiry into alleged cases of corruption within the Constitutional Council shows that they “function well,” he said on RFI.

Denouncing a “constitutional coup d’état,” several presidential candidates announced the start of their campaigns on February 4, in accordance with the original schedule, despite the interruption of the electoral process.

The Awalé party and the Abdourahmane2024 Coalition denounce the constitutional coup d’état orchestrated by Macky Sall and call on all Senegalese to jointly start the Election Campaign with all the presidential candidates at 3 p.m. at the Saint Lazare roundabout. pic.twitter.com/eLBdymkQYK
– Dr El Hadji Abdourahmane DIOUF (@drelhadjiAdiouf) February 4, 2024″