A few hours after Senegalese Head of State Macky Sall spoke announcing an indefinite postponement of the presidential election, Paris is calling for elections this Sunday “as soon as possible”.
“We call on the authorities to remove uncertainties around the electoral calendar so that the elections can be held as quickly as possible and in compliance with the rules of Senegalese democracy,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The president elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019 made the announcement in a brief intervention on public television, a few hours before the campaign opened on Sunday at 00:00 (local and GMT).
An unprecedented decision taken in a context of deep political crisis and which sparked protests.
The vote was scheduled for February 25.
The opposition in Senegal is calling for demonstrations this Sunday in Dakar and plans to launch the electoral campaign as planned.
The announcement once again plunges this country, known as an island of stability in Africa, into the unknown, but which has experienced various episodes of deadly unrest since 2021.