Senegal Election: How President Sall Conceded to Court Ruling Following Protests 

There have been protests in Senegal following the announcement that the presidential election would be delayed

The top court in Senegal has declared that the decision to postpone this month’s presidential election was unconstitutional.

Both the controversial bill passed by parliament that moved the vote to December and President Macky Sall’s decree were invalidated by the Constitutional Council.

Senegalese President Macky Sall said on Friday he would fully abide by a court decision that overturned the postponement of the presidential election to December this year.

Sall also stated that he is committed to carrying out, without delay, the necessary consultations for the organisation of the presidential election as soon as possible.

Protests have spread widely throughout the West African nation, which was previously seen as a pillar of stability in the region.

Mr. Sall declared on February 3 that he was delaying the election, which was initially set for February 25 due to uncertainty regarding the eligibility of rival candidates.

Following a heated debate in which some opposition MPs were removed from the chamber by police, 105 of the 165 MPs voted in favor of his proposal. Originally intended to be a six-month postponement, a last-minute amendment made it ten months, resulting in a new election date of December 15.

Mr. Sall had reaffirmed his intention to not seek public office in the future. However, his detractors charged that he was either unfairly influencing his successor or attempting to hold onto power.

The EU and the US had pleaded with Mr. Sall to reconsider.

Although the election may take place before then, the issues that caused the polls to be delayed in the first place—such as claims of corruption in the Constitutional Council and protests from opposition leaders who were left off of the list of candidates released last month—remain unresolved.

If the election is conducted using the contested candidate list, supporters of the candidates who are not allowed to run, especially Ousmane Sonko, who has a large and well-spoken following among young Senegalese, may erupt in new unrest and violence.

Hours before the scheduled start of the campaigns, President Sall issued his decree earlier this month, which prevented the majority of candidates from holding any public events.

The court’s ruling coincided with the release from prison of a number of opposition politicians and members of civil society, which some in the nation perceived as a tactic to curry favor with the populace.

Senegal has long been regarded as one of the region’s most stable democracies. It is the only nation on the continent of West Africa without a history of military takeovers. It has had three mostly peaceful transfers of power and has never postponed a presidential election until earlier this month.