An unusual measure, with strong media potential.
The Senegalese head of state Macky Sall announced on Monday at the heart of a serious crisis surrounding the postponement of the presidential election a general amnesty bill for facts linked to the unrest experienced by his country since 2021.
“In a spirit of national reconciliation, I will submit to the National Assembly this Wednesday in the Council of Ministers a general amnesty bill on the facts relating to the political demonstrations that occurred between 2021 and 2024,” announced President Sall by opening consultations in Diamniadio, near Dakar, to try to find an agreement on the date of the presidential election.
“This will help pacify the political space and further strengthen our national cohesion,” he said.
He affirmed his wish to organize the presidential election by June-July, while a vast front is demanding it before April 2.
“My will and my dearest wish is to hold the presidential election as soon as possible and before the next winter (the rainy season), and in peace,” he said.
Discussions that are slipping towards an agreement
He reaffirmed his commitment to leave the presidency on the official expiration date of his mandate, April 2.
“In convening this dialogue, I have only one concern: finding a consensus on the date of the next presidential election so that the vote takes place in the best conditions,” he said.
The Senegalese president has also been bringing together a number of political and social actors since Monday to try to forge an agreement on the date of the presidential election.
The head of state thus gave himself two days, Monday and Tuesday, to find a way out of the crisis the country is going through.
But 16 of the 19 qualified candidates as well as citizen groups had announced that they would not participate, and there was no sign Monday that they had reversed their decision.
President Sall triggered a shock wave on February 3 by decreeing a last minute postponement.
The opposition denounced a “constitutional coup”.
Repressed demonstrations left four dead and led to dozens of arrests.
The Constitutional Council vetoed the postponement.
He noted the impossibility of holding the presidential election on February 25 and asked the authorities to organize it “as soon as possible”.
Also read: Macky Sall, Ousmane Sonko, Karim Wade… Who are the actors in the political crisis in Senegal?
A broad political and citizen front was formed to demand that the election take place as quickly as possible, in any case before April 2, the official end of President Sall's mandate.
Some of the elements of this front are worried about the consequences of a vacancy of the presidency without an established succession.
President Sall himself expressed doubts about the feasibility of an election before his departure.