By Blessing Chinagorom
The United States had welcomed February 15 decision by Senegal’s Constitutional Council to restore the presidential electoral calendar in accordance with Senegal’s constitution.
In a statement released by the Home Office Spokesman on Friday while the United States noted President Macky Sall’s announcement to fully implement Constitutional Council’s decision and take the necessary steps to organize the election as quickly as possible.
The US urged all stakeholders to come together in the spirit of Senegal’s strong democratic tradition to support a free and fair election conducted in a peaceful and timely manner. “We stands with Senegalese people in their unwavering support for democracy”.
There have been widespread riots in Senegal following the president’s announcement of the delay to the election, scheduled for later this month while the decision to postpone this month’s elections in Senegal is against the country’s constitution, the country’s top court has ruled.
According to reports, the Constitutional Council annulled both President Macky Sall’s decree and a contentious bill passed by parliament moving the vote to December.
On 3 February, Mr Sall announced he was pushing back the election date – originally scheduled for 25 February – because of concerns over the eligibility of opposition candidates.
His proposal was supported by 105 out of the 165 MPs after a fiery debate which saw police remove some opposition MPs from the chamber. A six-month postponement was originally proposed, but a last-minute amendment extended it to 10 months, meaning a new election date of 15 December.
Mr Sall had reiterated that he was not planning to run for office again. But his critics accused him of either trying to cling on to power or unfairly influencing whoever succeeds him.