The Senegalese opposition has rejected the announcement made by the outgoing President Macky Sall regarding the postponement of the presidential election scheduled for February 25. The opposition has called for demonstrations on Sunday, February 4 against this decision. The indefinite postponement of the election has caused an outcry and raised strong concerns abroad.
Groups of men and women, of all ages, gathered in the capital, waving the Senegal flag and wearing the national football team’s jersey. They converged at a roundabout on a main road in the afternoon. However, the gendarmes deployed in large numbers and used tear gas to disperse the crowds. The gendarmes’ heavy fire was aimed at dispersing the gathering.
The police then entered the adjacent neighbourhoods on foot or in pickup trucks in pursuit of the fleeing demonstrators. They then suffered numerous stone throws. Young people chanting “Macky Sall dictator!” also undertook to erect roadblocks with makeshift means.
A presidential candidate, Daouda Ndiaye, said on Facebook that he and his team were “brutalized” by the police, and some of his colleagues were “arrested.” Meanwhile, another candidate Khalifa Sall urged the people of Senegal to “take a stand” against the decision to postpone the elections.
On Saturday, Macky Sall announced that he would repeal the decree that had set the presidential election for February 25. This decision was made just a few hours before the official opening of the campaign. It’s worth noting that this is the first time since 1963 that a presidential election by direct universal suffrage has been postponed in Senegal.
Several opposition candidates have announced their decision to ignore President Sall’s decree and proceed with the launch of their campaign on Sunday, as reported to the press.
