The president of Senegal, whose decision to postpone this year’s elections provoked fatal protests, told the BBC he did not regret the decision. Macky Sall stated that he was reacting to concerns expressed by lawmakers, not making the choice on his own.
Many were afraid that the comparatively calm country was heading into political disaster following a violent backlash. But the highest court in Senegal blocked the attempt to move the election up by ten months.A month after it was originally scheduled to take place, the vote will finally happen on Sunday.
President Sall told the BBC, “I have nothing to apologize for; I have done nothing wrong.” “All the actions that have been taken have been within the framework of the law and regulations.” With only three weeks remaining before the election on February 25, Mr. Sall declared that it would be postponed. The parliament subsequently gave its approval to this decision.The president refuted the accusations made by critics that Mr. Sall was attempting to serve beyond the end of his mandate.
He claimed that in order to settle a disagreement on the eligibility of presidential candidates, a delay was necessary. He claims that these concerns were brought up by opposing lawmakers. “If it had not been for the National Assembly which passed the law, which referred it to me, there would not have been the postponement of the election,” he stated. Three persons lost their lives in the violent altercations between demonstrators and police that followed Mr. Sall’s declaration.
Many were concerned that Senegal’s standing as a bulwark of democracy in a volatile area was in jeopardy.Senegal is the only nation in mainland West Africa without a coup, having witnessed three peaceful transfers of power since independence. Since there is “just one month” left before the new election date and the previous election date, Mr. Sall told the BBC that the recent upheaval “shows that there was an information campaign targeting Senegal and its president”.
“I am genuinely shocked by the value judgments made about me,” he continued. I would just be a candidate if I wanted to stay. Everyone in Africa is entitled to five terms if they so choose. “If that had been my decision, no-one could have stopped me, except the Senegalese people who vote.”A presidential amnesty this week allowed Ousmane Sonko, the leader of Senegal’s biggest opposition and one of Mr. Sall’s most vociferous critics, and Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the party’s presidential candidate, to be released from prison.
Mr. Sonko claims that all of the charges against him were brought against him for political reasons in an attempt to keep him out of the race. He was not allowed to run because of a conviction for immoral behavior with a juvenile; Mr. Faye is taking his place. Several well-known opposition candidates were also disqualified from the 2019 election that before it.
President Sall, however, refuted the notion that the accusations made against his competitors had political undertones.”It is not because you are a politician that you should not answer for your actions before the law,” he stated. He added that had the elections been postponed for a longer period of time, Mr. Sonko and other candidates would have been eligible to stand.
“We would have had the possibility of having amnesty, which would have given them back a certain number of rights,” added Sall. Senegal’s constitution allows for a maximum of two terms in office, which President Sall has completed. He reiterated his promise not to overstay in his interview with the BBC.”I will be departing on April 2, even if the next president is not elected on March 24. “I don’t plan to stay on another day; that is the deadline,” he declared.
Among the 19 contenders, Amadou Ba—prime minister under Mr. Sall until he resigned to campaign—and Mr. Faye are seen as the favorites. There will be another round if none of them receives more than 50% of the vote.
