Court in Senegal rules election delay unconstitutional

Senegal’s top court has ruled that postponing this month’s elections violates the country’s constitution.

The Constitutional Court overturned President Macky Sall’s proclamation and a contentious measure enacted by parliament, pushing the vote to December.

Widespread protests have gripped the West African country, which was previously seen as a stronghold of democracy in the region.

Opposition figures said it amounted to an “institutional coup”.

Mr Sall had announced he was pushing the election back because of what he claimed were concerns over the eligibility of opposition candidates.

His proposal had been backed by 105 out of the 165 MPs. A six-month postponement was originally proposed, but a last-minute amendment extended it to 10 months, or 15 December.

Mr Sall had reiterated that he was not planning to run for office again. But his critics accused him of either trying to cling on to power or unfairly influencing whoever succeeds him.

Opposition candidates and lawmakers, who had filed a number of legal challenges to the bill, will likely feel vindicated by the court’s decision on Thursday evening.

Khalifa Sall, a leading opponent and a former mayor of the capital Dakar, who is not related to the president, had called the delay a “constitutional coup” while Thierno Alassane Sall, another candidate, also no relation, called it “high treason”.

The court said it was “impossible” for the election to be held on the originally intended date of 25 February – just 10 days time – but urged authorities to organise it “as soon as possible”.

Most candidates have not been campaigning since President Sall issued his 3 February decree, hours before campaigns were meant to kick off.

The court decision comes on the same day as several opposition politicians and civil society members were released from prison, in what some in the country viewed as a move to appease public opinion.

Senegal has long been regarded as one of the most stable democracies in the area. It is the only country on mainland West Africa that has never experienced a military coup. It has had three mostly peaceful power transitions and, until earlier this month, had never postponed a presidential election.

President Sall has been in charge since 2012, and his second term will finish in April.