The postponing of the Senegalese presidential election has drawn criticism from the Economic Community of West African States.
Shortly before official campaigning was about to begin, Senegalese President, Macky Sall said on Saturday that the February 25 presidential election would be postponed indefinitely.
Sall said in a speech to the country that he had signed a decree nullifying the earlier statute that had established the date because parliamentarians were looking into the cases of two judges from the Constitutional Council whose impartiality in the election process had been called into question.
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Without providing a new date, Sall said he would start an open national dialogue to bring together the conditions for a free, transparent, and inclusive election.
The competent authorities in the West African nation were asked to select a new date for the postponed elections as soon as possible in a communique sent by ECOWAS on Sunday morning.
The communique read, “The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States takes note of the decision that the Senegalese authorities have taken to postpone the presidential elections scheduled to take place on 25 February 2024. The ECOWAS Commission expresses concern over the circumstances that have led to the postponement of the elections and appeals to the competent authorities to expedite the various processes in order to set a new date for the elections.”
“The Commission further urges the entire political class to prioritize dialogue and collaboration for transparent, inclusive, and credible elections. The ECOWAS Commission salutes President Macky Sall for upholding his earlier decision not to run for another term and encourages him to continue to defend and protect Senegal’s long-standing democratic tradition”.
It is the first time a Senegalese presidential election has been postponed. The decision comes following a dispute between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court over the rejection of candidates
