Hundreds Demonstrate in Senegal Demanding New Election Date

Hundreds of demonstrators filled the streets of Dakar on Saturday, urging President Macky Sall to announce April 2 as the official date for selecting his successor as his term concludes.

President Sall has been embroiled in controversy ever since he postponed the scheduled vote for February 25, sparking the nation's most severe political turmoil.

Despite the Constitutional Council's recent call to revoke the postponement and proceed with the vote "as soon as possible," President Sall seems reluctant to expedite the process.

He has deferred a decision on the date until Monday, when he plans to engage with political and social stakeholders. President Sall expressed his aspiration to reach a consensus by late Tuesday during Thursday night's address.

This uncertainty has left Senegalese citizens in limbo regarding the election date, intensifying demands for early elections.

During Saturday's protest, hundreds of people heeded the opposition group F24's call to assemble in a sandy square in a bustling part of the capital, chanting slogans like "We want elections" while adorned with national flags and decrying President Sall as a dictator.

In what appears to be a gesture to pacify public unrest, President Sall mentioned considering temporary release, amnesty, or amnesty legislation for opposition figures, including Mr. Sonko and his incarcerated colleague Bashir Diomai Fay.

President Sall's party, in power since 2012, justified the election delay citing controversies over potential candidate disqualifications and concerns regarding a recurrence of the unrest witnessed in 2021 and the previous year.

Despite this, most of the 20 presidential candidates and major civil society groups have declared their intent to abstain from participating in this year's proposed negotiations.

Boubacar Camara, one of the 16 candidates, declared on Friday: "We reject all negotiation proposals and demand the setting of a date before April 2."

President Sall asserted that if no consensus is reached during the discussions, the Constitutional Council will determine the next course of action.

While reiterating that his tenure will conclude on April 2 as scheduled, he remained vague about the election timeline, suggesting later that holding the vote before April 2 seemed improbable.