The tension is not falling in Senegal.
The authorities ban the march in Dakar against the postponement of the presidential election, according to the organizer.
Elymane Haby Kane, one of the organizers who declared the plan to demonstrate to the authorities on behalf of a collective, confirmed having received a letter to this effect from the prefecture.
The letter posted on social media says the march is prohibited because it “risks causing serious disruption” to traffic.
The Senegalese were called to a silent march in Dakar on Tuesday afternoon to protest against the postponement of their presidential election and the extension of the mandate of Head of State Macky Sall, the objects of a vast movement of indignation.
The new collective Aar Sunu Élection (“Let's protect our election”), which claims several dozen union organizations and citizen and religious groups, is asking Senegalese people to meet from 3 p.m. (local and GMT) in a neighborhood close to the center of the capital.
“We call on all Senegalese to come peacefully and participate in this silent march to say no to the postponement of the elections, to say no to the extension of the mandate of President Macky Sall,” Abdou Khafor Kandji told the press on Monday on behalf of one of the groups that form Aar Sunu Election.
At least three dead
This march is to take place four days after a large-scale protest across the country repressed by security forces.
Three people were killed.
Many Senegalese wanted to respond to an appeal (to unidentified perpetrators) broadcast on social networks, but were prevented from doing so by the police and gendarmes.
The authorities have banned many opposition demonstrations in recent years.
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“A Constitutional coup d’état”: tension rises in Senegal after the postponement of the presidential election
Senegal is in the grip of one of its most serious political crises in recent decades since President Sall announced the postponement of the presidential election on February 3, three weeks before the deadline.
Also read: Macky Sall, Ousmane Sonko, Karim Wade… Who are the actors in the political crisis in Senegal?
His supporters in the National Assembly and those of Karim Wade, a disqualified candidate, then endorsed the postponement of the election to December 15 and the maintenance of President Sall in his post until his successor takes office, a priori so early 2025.
This last minute change, exceptional in a country praised for its stability and democratic practices, raised cries of a “constitutional coup d’état”.
The vagueness around Sall's withdrawal
The opposition suspects the presidential camp of making arrangements with the calendar because it is sure of the defeat of its candidate, Prime Minister Amadou Ba, designated by Macky Sall to succeed him.
She suspects a maneuver so that President Sall, whose mandate officially expired on April 2, remains in power.
The head of state, elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019, repeats that he will not run again.
The severity of the crisis raises fears of a new episode of violence such as the country experienced in March 2021 and June 2023 around the fate of the anti-system opponent Ousmane Sonko, declared presidential candidate, now detained and excluded from the race .
Read alsoSenegal: who is Ousmane Sonko, the opponent whose conviction set the country on fire?
The vagueness maintained by President Sall over his candidacy for a third term then fueled tensions until he announced in July 2023 that he would leave it at that.
Dozens of people have been killed since 2021 according to human rights defenders, and hundreds arrested.
Concern on the international scene
The authorities' response to recent mobilization attempts, the use of force, the arrests, the ill-treatment suffered by a number of journalists according to press organizations, the temporary suspension of mobile data internet and the cutoff during A few days of a television signal critical of the government brought them new criticism.
Major international partners of Senegal have expressed their concern about the situation and called more or less explicitly for a reestablishment of the electoral calendar.
On Saturday, some 2,000 people, including many Senegalese, demonstrated in Paris on Saturday against Macky Sall, described as a “dictator”.
Macky Sall justified the postponement of the presidential election by the fierce disputes sparked by the process of validating candidates.
He said he wanted an indisputable election, worrying about the risk of new outbreaks of violence.
He affirmed his desire for “appeasement and reconciliation” and offered a dialogue to the rest of the political class.
This attempt to reach out raises a multitude of questions, in particular on its acceptance by the opposition and on a possible release of opponents Ousmane Sonko, Bassirou Diomaye Faye and people imprisoned since 2021. Some media have raised the possibility of an amnesty , not confirmed by the presidency or the government.