Senegal’s Postponed Presidential Election Now Has a Date

Senegal’s delayed presidential election now has a definite date. Announced on Wednesday, the vote is now scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 24, a month after its original date.

In early February, President Macky Sall announced a postponement of the election, citing an ongoing disagreement between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court over a final, approved list of candidates set to run in the elections. The announcement was immediately met with criticisms from many citizens and opposition parties, who stated that Sall was acting beyond his powers and even carrying out a constitutional coup.

Protests ensued in the capital, Dakar, as many Senegalese citizens came out to decry the election’s postponement. They were met with deadly force by state security officials. Shortly after, the Constitutional Council declared the postponement of the election as illegal, a decision which Sall fully accepted and stated his readiness to exit office on April 2, when his term is constitutionally over.

Despite his term ending soon, Sall, along with a national dialogue commission, proposed a June 2 election date, but the Constitutional Council ruled that date to be unconstitutional. After further deliberation, March 24 was arrived at as the election, just over a week before Sall’s term ends. The election news capped off an evening where Sall replaced Prime MinisterAmadou Ba with Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba.

Ba is the presidential candidate for the ruling coalition, United in Hope, and the reason for his removal is so he can focus on campaigns ahead of the election. Currently, there are 19 total candidates on the ballot, including Bassirou Diomaye Faye, anointed by opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, 39-year-old political newcomer Anta Babacar Ngom, former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck, and more.