Senegal civil society calls for mass action over delayed election

Dakar, Senegal — AFP

Senegalese civil society groups have urged mass action after this month’s presidential poll was deferred to December, as President Macky Sall sought to quell public outcry and faced global pressure.

The normally stable West African nation has plunged into its worst political upheaval in decades after lawmakers backed Sall’s decision to postpone the February 25 election to the middle of December.

The contentious vote paved the way for Sall, whose second term was due to expire in early April, to remain in office until his successor is installed, probably in 2025.

A newly formed collective –- comprising some 40 civil, religious and professional groups –- outlined a series of upcoming actions including a protest and a strike.

“We invite all citizens . . . to mobilize en masse throughout the country and in the diaspora to prevent this seizure of power,” the civil society platform Aar Sunu Election (Let’s protect our election) said in a statement.

Crammed into a room too small to hold all the journalists, representatives from the group spoke of a demonstration and a general strike on an unspecified date, and a walkout in schools.

The platform also called on Muslims to attend Friday prayers wearing white and flying the national colours.

– Sporadic mobilization –

To what extent these calls to action will be heeded is as yet unclear.

Senegal’s opposition, which has decried the election delay as a “constitutional coup”, appears to be trying to form a coherent strategy after the last-minute announcement.

It has denounced the move as part of a plan by the presidential camp to avoid defeat, or even extend Sall’s term in office, despite his reiteration that he would not stand again.

The widespread outcry unleashed on social media has only materialised into sporadic mobilization on the streets.

Attempted demonstrations have been repressed by security forces and dozens have been arrested.

Rights advocates say that authorities have in recent years routinely banned opposition demonstrations, which are subject to authorisation.

Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds arrested since 2021 during various episodes of unrest in Senegal.

– ‘Worrying development’ –

ECOWAS Commission president Omar Alieu Touray called the crisis in Senegal a “worrying development”.

ECOWAS, the European Union and the United States have all called on Senegal to restore its electoral calendar.

Washington said the vote to delay the election could not be “considered legitimate” after security forces removed opposition deputies who opposed the bill.

Sall said on Saturday that he postponed the vote because of a dispute between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council over the rejection of candidates.

Senegal’s international allies have called the move a blow to the country’s long-standing democratic principles and voiced concern that it risked triggering unrest in what is often seen as a bastion of stability in volatile West Africa.