(Dakar) In two districts of Dakar where demonstrations were to be held on Friday against the postponement of the presidential election, Senegalese welcomed the decision of the Constitutional Council to invalidate the postponement of the vote, “expected by the people”.
Place de la Nation, near which intense clashes between security forces and demonstrators took place a week ago, the Senegalese were going about their business. No demonstrators came.
In Parcelles Assainies, a few dozen demonstrators wishing to maintain pressure on the president were quickly dispersed with tear gas.
In both cases, the tension of the last few days has clearly decreased.
This decision, “it’s like a pot that was boiling and the lid was lifted” to release the pressure, declares Alioune Coulibaly, who wears a bracelet on his wrist in the colors of the ex-Pastef (opposition).
“We hope that the president will quickly give a date, because he cannot fight against his people,” adds this 37-year-old geographer, who says he remains “suspicious” because “Macky Sall has accustomed us to everything.”
“It’s a decision that was expected by the Senegalese people,” also believes Babou Cissé, a 40-year-old lawyer who lives in the Place de la Nation district.
“Appease the country”
He notices that “the tension has dropped a little”. “We hope that Macky Sall will respect this decision because there is no other way to appease the country […]the violation of the Constitution was flagrant.”
Less than 24 hours after its decision, the presidency indicated that Head of State Macky Sall intended to “fully implement the Council’s decision”, committing to organizing the presidential election “as soon as possible”.
At Place de la Nation, traffic was as usual on Friday. The men in boubou return home after Friday prayers where they stop to eat “thieb”, the Senegalese national dish made of fatty rice, fish and vegetables.
Near the square’s obelisk, young people play football in the sun. Students work on their lessons sitting on the benches. Shops are open.
However, a strong security system is present. “We are here, there have been rumors of demonstrations: if there are any, we are ready to disperse them,” said a police officer.
“Democratic showcase”
At Parcelles Assainies, the police are just as visible. As with every demonstration since the start of the protest against the postponement of the presidential election, they fired tear gas to disperse a gathering of a few dozen people, at the call of an opposition collective.
The group immediately scattered into the alleys of this popular district of Dakar. And the stores quickly closed their doors.
“It’s the first day of Lent (for Christians) and we can’t even celebrate in peace,” complains a woman in a blue and red boubou.
Lamine Fofana, 29, student in an institute attached to the National School of Administration, (Ena), demonstrates as planned, “to support the decision of the Council according to which the president (Macky Sall) must no longer be in his post beyond April 2.
In its decision rendered Thursday evening, the “wise men” of the Council recalled the inviolable nature of the duration of the presidential mandate of five years which, for Macky Sall, ends on April 2.
The announcement of the postponement of the February 25 vote, followed by a vote by deputies setting it for December 15, had caused one of the worst political crises in the post-independence history of Senegal, presented as a model of stability and of democracy in a region ravaged by jihadist violence and where coups d’état have followed one another since 2020.
“Senegal is a democratic showcase in Africa, but our democracy was in danger of collapsing,” remarks Pope Alioune Kane, 33, cleaning agent.
“The Constitutional Council put us back on the right path and saved us from trouble,” he said, urging “the opposition to contribute to peace” because “the climate is tense.” And added: “We are a poor country which (already) has enough problems”.