In Senegal, President Macky Sall commits to organizing an election “as soon as possible”

The Senegalese head of state, Macky Sall, pledged, Friday February 16, to organize the presidential election ” as soon as possible “after the veto put the day before by the Constitutional Council on its decision to postpone the election initially scheduled for February 25 to December 15, 2024.

Mr. Sall “intends to fully implement the decision of the Council” And “will without delay carry out the necessary consultations for the organization of the presidential election”his services said in a statement.

A little earlier, the European Union (EU) called on Friday, “all parties to be respected [cette] decision and to make every effort to organize the elections according to the decision of the Council”. Nabila Massrali, spokesperson for the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, added that the Twenty-Seven denounce “unnecessary and disproportionate use of force against protests and restrictions on civic space”. She also recalled that the EU had already expressed its concerns about the announcement of the postponement of the presidential election to December 15. This “decision to postpone had a significant impact on the stability and social cohesion of the country”underlined the spokesperson during a press briefing.

For its part, France also called on the Senegalese authorities on Friday to respect the decision of the Constitutional Council “in its entirety, and to organize the elections as soon as possible”the deputy spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay said in a press release. “France encourages all Senegalese actors to work to appease the political climate, in accordance with Senegal’s long democratic tradition”it is added.

More than 130 detainees released

One hundred and thirty-four members of the opposition and civil society who were detained in Senegal have been released since Thursday. Ninety others were to be sent during the day on Friday, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Souleymane Djim, member of the Collective of families of political detainees, affirmed that “156 detainees were released” THURSDAY “and 500 in total must be” shortly. “International pressure causes President Macky Sall to order releases”did he declare.

One of the main opposition figures, Ousmane Sonko, but also his second at the head of the Pastef party – dissolved –, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, one of the favorites in the presidential election, have been detained since 2023. No information is available status for the time of their possible release.

An opposition march authorized on Saturday

After the decision of the Constitutional Council which noted the impossibility of holding the vote on February 25, the opposition and civil society cried out “constitutional coup”, and called to demonstrate. Clashes left three people dead on Thursday during repressed gatherings which also gave rise to dozens of arrests. Deaths “deplored” by the EU, just like “the large number of injuries and arrests”, said M.^me Massrali.

“Like the United Nations, the EU is calling for investigations and denouncing unnecessary and disproportionate use of force against protests and restrictions on civic space. We therefore call for all light to be shed on the conditions of death of these people and for the authorities to guarantee fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to demonstrate peacefully.she concluded.

New calls for demonstrations have been launched for Friday afternoon and Saturday. A silent march of opponents planned for Saturday in Dakar has been authorized, unlike all those in recent weeks, announced to AFP Elimane Kane, of the civil society collective Aar Sunu Election (“Let’s protect our election”) who organized.

The opposition suspects Macky Sall, who cannot run for a third term, of wanting to stay in power. The Head of State, for his part, assures that he only wanted to postpone the election for fear of a challenge to the result likely to provoke new outbursts of violence, after those of 2021 and 2023.