DAKAR, Feb 5 — Riot police fired tear gas to break up crowds trying to gather outside Senegal’s National Assembly today to protest against the president’s abrupt postponement of elections over the weekend.
As protesters shouted slogans, lawmakers inside the parliament building started debating a bill that would reschedule the February 25 vote to Aug. 25 and extend President Macky Sall’s mandate until his successor is installed.
Sall’s unprecedented announcement on Saturday pitched the West African nation into uncharted constitutional waters that threaten to further tarnish its reputation as a bastion of democratic stability in a region swept by coups.
“They are trying to extend the president’s term, which is illegal and not allowed,” protester Mohammad Mbengue said.
Around 100 people gathered outside parliament on Monday, after confrontations on Sunday, chanting “Macky Sall is a dictator”. Police chased them into side streets and made arrests.
Authorities temporarily restricted mobile internet access from Sunday night, citing hate messages on social media and threats to public order. Several schools sent pupils home early.
The private Walf television channel said it was taken off air on Sunday and had its licence revoked.
“Senegal has been known as a country with a strong democracy but this is no longer the case,” one protester who only gave his first name, Dame, told Reuters.
“The only thing we want is a fair election.” He said he was worried Sall would cling on to power indefinitely.
The African Union on Monday joined a chorus of calls from regional bodies and Western governments for a new election date to be set as soon as possible.
‘Institutional coup’
Sall said he delayed the election due to a dispute over the candidate list and alleged corruption within the constitutional body that handled the list.
The opposition Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), whose candidate was barred from running because of dual nationality issues, supports a delay and proposed the postponement bill in parliament before
Sall’s announcement
But others angrily rejected the delay. The F24 platform, a large group of civil society organisations behind past demonstrations, and opposition presidential candidate Khalifa Sall, called it an “institutional coup”.
Some presidential contenders said they would push ahead with campaigns meant to kick off over the weekend. Two - ex-Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall and another opposition politician, Aly Ngouille - vowed to challenge the postponement in court.
At least two candidates were detained when police in riot gear broke up protests in the capital Dakar on Sunday, firing tear gas and rounding up participants. Another presidential contender was injured and taken to hospital, his team said.
Sall’s announcement and the outcry it prompted have raised fears the country could see a repeat of violent protests that have broken out over the past three years over concerns Sall would run for a third term and the alleged political side-lining of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
“The coming months will be uncertain, and we do not think the police will be able to contain all popular anger,” Oxford Economics warned in a note.
The postponement bill needs to be backed by at least three fifths of the National Assembly in order to pass.
It could go through if the ruling party, which holds 49 per cent of seats, and the opposition coalition that includes the PDS both vote for it, according to a Barclays analysis.
“Such a postponement could open the door for subsequent postponements and allow the president to do many things,” it said in a note. — Reuters
