Senegal Top Court Overrules Law Postponing Poll

The decision to postpone this month’s elections in Senegal is against the country’s constitution, the country’s top court has ruled.

The constitutional council annulled President Macky Sall‘s decree and a contentious bill passed by parliament moved the vote to December.

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

Widespread protests have gripped the West African country, once considered a bastion of democracy in the region.

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

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The Council said it was impossible to organize the presidential election on the initially scheduled date but invited the competent authorities to hold it as soon as possible.

The opposition has decried Sall’s move to delay the vote as a constitutional coup, saying his party feared defeat at the ballot box.

The delay prompted violent protests during which three people were killed and dozens arrested.

Opposition figures praised the court’s ruling on Thursday.

This is a decision that puts Senegal back on track. I’m not surprised because everything that was happening was too big, former prime minister Aminata Toure, who has joined the opposition, told AFP.

We note that the law has been established, said Dethie Fall, an opposition presidential candidate, who added he was pleased with the decision.

Senegal’s major international partners called on the government to hold the election as soon as possible, fearing violent unrest.

Opposition and civil society groups have issued new calls for demonstrations and a peaceful march organised by a civil society collective is planned for Saturday.

Faced with mounting public anger, President Sall expressed a desire to find ways of obtaining appeasement and reconciliation.