The Senegalese Constitutional Court dropped a political bomb by invalidating the postponement of the presidential election and the retention of Macky Sall at the head of the country for several additional months.
What effect will it have?
What did the Court say?
Firstly, that she was competent to decide what was disputed between supporters and opponents of the postponement.
Competent to say whether President Sall and the National Assembly had failed to comply with the texts: the first by repealing at the beginning of February the decree calling voters to the polls on the 25th, the second by immediately postponing the presidential election to December 15 and extending the mandate of Mr. Sall until the installation of his successor.
The Court, seized by more than 50 opposition deputies, took only a week to rule in a situation of political emergency.
The six Wise Men declared
the law passed by Parliament
“contrary to the Constitution” .
They invoked articles 27 and 103 of the Constitution which establish the inviolable nature of the duration of the presidential mandate of five years, as well as case law.
They canceled the presidential decree because it was based on the law passed by the Assembly.
The presidency indicated on Friday that President Sall intended
to “fully implement the decision of the Council”
, committing to organizing the presidential election
“as soon as possible”
.
What significance does the decision have?
It caused a shock wave to match that caused by the postponement.
This, decreed after almost three years of tensions in a country renowned for its stability, caused new clashes which left three dead and dozens of arrests.
The opposition and civil society cried out for a
“constitutional coup”
by the presidential camp to escape defeat.
The presidential camp cited the risk of pre- and post-election protests and violence such as the country experienced in 2021 and 2023.
The government did not question the Court's decision, which is not subject to appeal.
The decision appears to lock in the departure of Mr. Sall, elected in 2012, upon the official expiration of his second term on April 2.
The president
“has no choice, he must leave on April 2
,” said one of the main candidates, Khalifa Sall.
When will the vote take place?
Everyone agrees, including the Court, that the election is no longer possible on February 25.
The Court did not set a new date, simply inviting the authorities to hold the election
“as soon as possible”
.
Amadou Ba, proxy for imprisoned anti-system candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, says the election must take place before April 2.
Another candidate, Thierno Alassane Sall, would like us to vote after the departure of the incumbent because of the role played by him in the crisis according to him.
Like others, Khalifa Sall is waiting for the president to open discussions:
“We will have to talk
. ”
“The president cannot take all his time
,” said constitutionalist Babacar Gueye, one of the leaders of a civil society collective which mobilized against the postponement.
According to the projections made by the collective, we should be able to vote on March 3 or March 10, he said.
If the election does not take place before April 2, it will be up to the President of the Assembly, who will act as interim president, to organize it, he says: he has 90 days to do so.
Who will the Senegalese vote for?
Government spokesperson Abdou Karim Fofana says that the president remains at the center of the game, that
“it is up to him to act (since he) is the guarantor of the proper functioning of institutions”
.
It suggests a discussion, the duration and content of which are unclear.
The events
“converge towards one thing: + discuss, agree on consensual rules and propose them to us”
, he told French radio RFI.
The Constitutional Court approved 20 candidacies in January, and invalidated dozens of others.
“There is no question of reviewing the list of candidates
,” said constitutionalist Gueye.
However, the strong protests to which this process gave rise and the accusations of corruption brought against the Constitutional Council by the disqualified candidate Karim Wade were one of the arguments of the presidential camp to postpone the election.
For Mr. Wade and other eliminated candidates, the postponement was a necessity or a boon.
Furthermore, pressure could quickly increase for the release of anti-system candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a serious contender for victory although detained.