The West African regional bloc, ECOWAS has expressed “concern” on Saturday after the postponement of presidential elections in a member state, Senegal, and called for dialogue.
The statement from the Economic Community of West African States reads: “The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States takes note of the decision that the Senegalese authorities have taken to postpone the presidential elections scheduled to take place on 25 February 2024.
“The ECOWAS Commission expresses concern over the circumstances that have led to the postponement of the elections and appeals to the competent authorities to expedite the various processes in order to set a new date for the elections. The Commission further urges the entire political class to prioritize dialogue and collaboration for transparent, inclusive and credible elections.
“The ECOWAS Commission salutes President Macky Sall for upholding his earlier decision not to run for another term, and encourages him to continue to defend and protect Senegal’s long-standing democratic tradition. The Commission will remain seized of the situation.”
Senegal’s President Macky Sall had indefinitely postponed the presidential election that was scheduled to take place on February 25.
Speaking in a televised address to the nation on Saturday, the president announced he had cancelled the relevant electoral law, citing a dispute over the candidate list.
Sall said he signed a decree abolishing a November 2023 measure that had set the original election date.
“I will initiate an open national dialogue to bring together the conditions for a free, transparent and inclusive election in a peaceful and reconciled Senegal,” he said, without giving a new date.
The announcement comes after the Constitutional Council last month excluded some prominent opposition members from the list of candidates.
The decision brought the integrity of the election process into question and fuelled growing discontent, with excluded candidates saying the rules for candidacy were not applied fairly – something the authorities have denied.
“These troubled conditions could seriously undermine the credibility of the ballot by sowing the seeds of pre- and post-electoral disputes,” Sall said, explaining why he delayed the vote.
The opposition Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), whose candidate Karim Wade was among those excluded from running in the election, had earlier submitted a formal request to postpone the vote.
However, the opposition PASTEF Party did not approve of the decision to pause the election. “We feel this is a constitutional coup,” Yassine Fall, Pastef’s vice president, told Al Jazeera.
“Macky Sall is not doing this for us, he is doing this against us,” she said. “Macky Sall understands that if we go to elections, we will win by a landslide victory. But he wants to stay in power or have someone from his party to be elected. This is why he plays these kinds of games to come and manipulate the institutions illegally.
“We are right now at a very dangerous setback in our democracy because Macky Sall is taking responsibilities that are not his own.”
