Senegal President, Macky Sall, postpones elections indefinitely

Senegal President, Macky Sall, has postponed elections in the country just hours before official campaigning was to start. He cited a dispute between national assembly and the constitutional court over rejection of candidates as reason for indefinite delay.

In an address to the nation, Sall said he postponed the vote that would decide his successor. He said: "I will begin an open national dialogue to bring together the conditions for a free, transparent and inclusive election."

However, Sall hasn't given a new date for the elections, which has caused anger from opposition figures, and a ministerial resignation.

Just hours after Sall’s announcement, Abdou Latif Coulibaly, the secretary general of the government who has acted as its spokesman, announced his resignation. He said he was quitting because he wanted to have “full and complete freedom” to defend his political convictions.

The west African bloc Ecowas expressed “concern over the circumstances that have led to the postponement of the elections”, calling for dialogue and an expedited process to set a new date.

A November 2023 decree signed by Sall had set the election for 25 February with 20 candidates in the running but two major opposition figures excluded.

One opposition leader, Thierno Alassane Sall, denounced what he called “high treason towards the Republic” and called on “patriots and republicans” to oppose it.

Under Senegal’s election code, at least 80 days must pass between the publication of the decree setting the date and the election, so the earliest a vote could now be held is late April.