A date, finally.
This Wednesday, the Senegalese head of state Macky Sall set March 24 for the first round of the presidential election after weeks of a deep crisis and a decision of the Constitutional Council opposed to a postponement of the election beyond the his term ends on April 2.
“The President of the Republic informed the Council of Ministers of the setting of the date of the presidential election for Sunday March 24, 2024,” explains a press release sent by a spokesperson for the presidency.
However, a question remains since the Constitutional Council has for its part set the presidential election for March 31, a week later...
Presidential on March 24 according to the presidency, on March 31 according to the Constitutional Council, new PM, dialogue proposals rejected by the Constitutional Council, amnesty law adopted by the assembly... Crazy evening in Senegal!
pic.twitter.com/tVDp1ZY7di
— Elimane Ndao (@NdaoEli) March 6, 2024
This announcement follows the publication of a decision by the Constitutional Council which ruled that the presidential election should take place before April 2, rejecting the proposed date of June 2.
“Setting the date of the election beyond the duration of the mandate of the President of the Republic in office is contrary to the Constitution”, assured a decision of the “Sages” dated Tuesday and authenticated by AFP.
The Constitutional Council also rejected another recommendation made to President Sall and declared that the list of 19 candidates already validated by the institution should not be revised.
VIDEO.
“A Constitutional coup d’état”: tension rises in Senegal after the postponement of the presidential election
The Senegalese presidency noted this sudden acceleration of the calendar by announcing in the evening that Prime Minister Amadou Ba was “released” from his post to lead the campaign.
He is replaced by Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba, explained a spokesperson.
The Constitutional Council has been referred to the Constitutional Council since Monday for its opinion by President Sall himself.
The head of state submitted recommendations resulting from a “national dialogue” that he had convened last week to try to get out of the crisis caused by the postponement of the presidential election, one of the most serious in recent years. decades.
“National Dialogue”
President Sall caused a shock in a country presented as one of the most stable in West Africa shaken by power grabs by decreeing on February 3 the postponement of the election scheduled for February 25.
This “national dialogue” was one of the elements of President Macky Sall’s response to the crisis.
The other was a bill for amnesty for acts linked to political violence in recent years, a text that has been widely criticized even though it is supposed to dissipate tensions.
Senegalese deputies adopted this amnesty law on Wednesday.
Parliamentarians approved by 94 votes for and 49 against this text decried by its detractors as sheltering the perpetrators of serious acts, including homicides.
An amnesty risks adding to the confusion.
The question of its application to the imprisoned opponent Ousmane Sonko, of his possible return to the saddle in the electoral race, and more generally that of a re-examination of the list of candidates validated in January, agitated the political class.
The project would provide amnesty for all offenses or crimes, whether tried or not, committed between February 1, 2021 and February 25, 2024 and “relating to demonstrations or having political motivations”, according to the text submitted Tuesday in committee.
Between 2021 and 2023, Senegal experienced various episodes of riots, clashes, ransacking and looting triggered in particular by the standoff between the opponent Sonko and the government.
Ousmane Sonko, third in the presidential election in 2019 and declared candidate in 2024, has been detained since July 2023 and was disqualified from the presidential election in which he was one of the favorites.
In February, Senegal fell prey to new unrest after the announcement of the postponement of the election.
Dozens of people have been killed since 2021, hundreds injured, hundreds more arrested.
“Amnesty, amnesia”
The presidency justified the amnesty by the need to “appease the political and social climate”.
The law “has the sole objective of reconciliation (…) President Macky Sall does not hide any bad intentions”, assured Farba Ngom, deputy of the presidential camp, during the debate.
The latest in a series of amnesties approved since independence, this one, without being specific, could mean the release of dozens of opponents.
But many political and social actors are standing up against the project, expressing indignation that no member of the security forces or any government official would be held accountable.
“This law is a license to continue to assassinate the Senegalese.
Amnesty law, amnesia law: not in my name.
Justice for the murdered and tortured,” exclaimed MP Guy Marius Sagna.
The project is not unanimous within the presidential camp, which has a precarious majority in the Assembly.
The positioning of Ousmane Sonko's dissolved party is being carefully scrutinized.
Pastef, which has almost systematically opposed presidential projects in the past but whose members could benefit from an amnesty, abstained during a preliminary vote in committee on Tuesday.
Pastef “is not requesting” the text, said MP Ayib Daffé on Wednesday.
But amnesty in itself is “something praiseworthy”.