Senegal's opposition Tuesday denounced a "constitutional coup" after parliament voted to delay the presidential election by 10 months, plunging the country into its worst crisis in decades.
Lawmakers backed postponing this month's polls until 15 December during a lengthy and heated debate, which at times descended into shoving and pushing.
President Macky Sall should in consequence remain in office until his successor is installed, probably in 2025, while his second mandate was due to expire in early April.
As this decision unfolds, opposition members claim the country has been taken "hostage" and have decried the erosion of Senegal's democratic norms.
'Devastated'
"The situation is completely catastrophic, Senegal's image is ruined, and I don't think we'll be recovering from this democratic bankruptcy, this tsunami in the rule of law, any time soon," opposition deputy Ayib Daffe said after the vote.
"We are all devastated. It's a blow to Senegalese democracy," said Pape Djibril Fall, one of the 20 candidates who had been in the running for the presidency.
Aliou Mamadou Dia, another candidate, reiterated the phrase "constitutional coup": "They have taken the country hostage," he fumed.
A supporter of Prime minister Amadou Ba, the former director of the 'Futurs Medias' group Mamoudou Ibra Kane told RFI that even Ba is frustrated, and feels that the president wants to "hang to power".
Kane even called Macky Sall to quit.
Mamoudou Ibra Kane : "Le calendrier républicain doit être respecté" https://t.co/F1qUkDLS2K-- exclusif.net (@exclusifnet) February 4, 2024
Watershed moment
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
It is the first time in history that Senegalese voters, who were due to elect their fifth president on 25 February, have faced such a crisis.
Security forces earlier on Monday used tear gas to disperse opposition protesters outside parliament, where demonstrators chanted "Macky Sall dictator".
The move also unleashed widespread outcry on social media, despite the suspension of mobile internet access by the government on Monday.
More than 115 academics and personalities also teamed up to publish a column describing the president as the "gravedigger of the republic".
"The real crisis is the one that will result from this unprecedented decision calling into question the electoral timetable, for which he is the sole initiator and ultimately responsible," they wrote.
Une tribune signée par 117 universitaires sénégalais https://t.co/EYuhDlwNWy-- Felwine Sarr (@FelwineSarr) February 6, 2024
The researcher and writer Felwine Sarr, signatory of this column, told RFI's Guillaume Thibault: "The president claimed that there was an institutional crisis, a dispute between two institutions, which is not true.
He claims Sall created the crisis himself.
"An internal crisis in his party, with problems of legitimacy of the candidate they have chosen, with the fear of losing the elections. And he transfers this internal crisis to the entire country."
(with AFP)
