Politics

Senegal’s President Sall to step down at the end of his term in April

Dakar, Feb 22 (EFE).- Senegal’s President Macky Sall confirmed Thursday that he will leave power at the end of his term on Apr. 2, but did not announce the expected new date for the presidential elections, amid the crisis unleashed by their postponement.

“Apr. 2, 2024, will be the end of my term as the head of the country, the end of my binding relationship with the Senegalese people as President of the Republic. I want this debate to be resolved,” Sall said in an interview on national television.

The president announced a national dialogue on monday and Tuesday with the registered candidates for the presidential election.

However, Sall did not confirm a date for the election, saying he would issue the necessary decree after the dialogue, nor did he confirm whether the election would come before or after the end of his mandate.

The president also spoke of the possibility of granting provisional release from prison to the main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, who was arrested in July, and also to the candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

The announcement came at a time of great political tension following the postponement of the election by Sall on Feb. 3.

However, Senegal’s Constitutional Council declared that the president’s decision and the parliament’s vote to postpone the elections from Feb. 25 to Dec. 15 was “unconstitutional.”

The rescheduling sparked violent street protests, often brutally dispersed by police, in which at least four people died, undermining Senegal’s reputation as West Africa’s most stable democracy.

The opposition called on Sall to set a date before his term expires.

“For President Macky Sall to say today that he will leave on Apr. 2 is like telling us that the water is getting wet,” former Prime Minister Aminata Touré said Thursday before Sall’s speech.

“The only thing Senegalese expect from today’s speech is that it clearly announces the date of the presidential elections,” she added.

Sall defended the electoral moratorium because of “the controversy over a candidate whose dual nationality (French and Senegalese) was revealed after the final list was published,” which the Senegalese constitution does not allow for presidential candidates.

According to the Senegalese president, this revealed an “alleged case of corruption of judges” that called into question the process of selecting candidates.

However, most of the opposition rejected the postponement of the elections, considering it a “constitutional coup.” EFE

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