To break the tension perceptible in Senegal and particularly in Dakar since the postponement of the presidential election, the country's authorities decided to take measures, including the suspension since this morning of access to mobile internet. The opposition had called for demonstrations in front of the National Assembly where deputies must decide on the bill relating to the postponement of the vote.
According to a France24 correspondent, "just after the opening of the session, we witnessed a suspension of the session in a tense atmosphere".
MPs debated a proposed Constitutional law which would postpone the vote for up to six months, during a session anticipated as a crucial moment. Approval required a three-fifths majority of the 165 deputies.
The situation was still very tense in Senegal on the morning of February 5, two days after the indefinite postponement of the presidential election by President Macky Sall. After clashes on Sunday evening in the capital, a protest rally in front of the National Assembly was dispersed by the police using tear gas.
Furthermore, according to AFP, mobile internet was cut. This makes communications on social networks difficult or even impossible. The opposition and civil society rejected the decision, describing it as a "Constitutional coup d'état" by Sall, who is completing his two mandates, is leading his country, perceived as a model of democracy in Africa, into new uncertainty.
The Senegalese government is experiencing a wave of anger and serious concerns across the world.
The President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, called on the Senegalese, on Monday in a press release, to resolve their "political dispute through consultation, understanding and dialogue", after the tensions and violence caused by the postponement of the presidential election. Expressing his "concern" about the postponement of the presidential election, he asks the authorities to organize the elections as soon as possible, with transparency, peace and national harmony.
