the National Assembly votes to postpone the presidential election until December 15, after the forced evacuation of opposition deputies

The bill implementing the announcement of outgoing President Macky Sall was adopted amid great confusion. The election was to take place on February 25.

The tension risks going up another notch. The Senegalese Parliament adopted, amid great confusion, the bill aimed at postponing the presidential election, initially scheduled for February 25, to December 15, 2024, noted an AFP journalist on Monday February 5. The law was adopted almost unanimously, with 105 votes in favor and only one against the text.

But several opposition deputies were evacuated manu militari by the gendarmerie after trying to obstruct the vote. The debates continued late into the evening. Some came to blows in the afternoon. “Let’s not be the Assembly of shame. Let’s make sure, when we leave here, that we can look at our children with pride to say that we were the last wall”, said Abass Fall, an opposition MP.

President Macky Sall, who cannot run for a new term but had maintained uncertainty until July, will remain in office until the installation of his successor, specifies another provision of the law passed on Monday.

Around Parliament, the gendarmes repelled sporadic attempts to gather at the call of the opposition with tear gas. Small groups retreated further chanting “Macky Sall dictator!”

Concern of many States

Senegal, renowned as an island of stability in West Africa, has been in the grip of great tensions since Macky Sall announced on Saturday, a few hours before the scheduled opening of the electoral campaign, the postponement of the presidential election scheduled for February 25.

This decision caused an outcry among qualified candidates and in civil society, including religious circles. Virulently denounced by its detractors as a “constitutional coup”, it plunges the country into the unknown and raises fears of a boiling point, which has not been confirmed for the moment. But, in addition to the repression of attempted demonstrations, mobile internet was cut off on Monday, and a private television channel had its license suspended.

The Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, the United States, the European Union, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, important partners of Senegal, expressed their worry.