Senegal sees mass protest following President Sall’s election shift
There were clashes between protesters and Senegalese police outside the National Assembly after President Macky Sall announced that the general election, initially due in three weeks, had been postponed by six months.
Although, Sall assured that he would not be standing in any election again, but some believed the extension was his ploy to influence the choice of a successor.
The majority of the country’s parliamentarians voted for the extension but are, now, being asked by the people to reverse the decision.
The BBC reported one of the opposition figures, Khalifa Sall, as calling the postponement a “constitutional coup” and urged the people to protest against it. Although not related to President Sall, Khalifa was once mayor of Dakar. His political coalition has vowed to go to court, the report stated.
Similarly, Thierno Alassane Sall, another candidate, also no relation of the president, called the decision “high treason.”
He urged his supporters to gather in front of the National Assembly to protest and “remind MPs to stand on the right side of history”.
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Once seen as the bastion of democracy in West Africa, due to its stable political system and peaceful handovers, Senegal’s reputation seems to be tainted by the latest development.
