The African Union (AU), the European Union (EU) and the United States welcomed the organization of the presidential election in Senegal on March 24, after several weeks of a political crisis caused by the postponement of the last minute of voting. After a month of uncertainty which alarmed national opinion and part of the international community, the date of the presidential election, initially scheduled for February 25, was set for March 24, before the expiration of President Macky’s mandate. Sall and under the pressure of an inflexible Constitutional Council.
The President of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat “welcomes the peaceful outcome of the institutional crisis in Senegal”, in a press release published Friday March 8. The decision to set the election for March 24, while a “national dialogue” convened by President Sall and largely supportive of his cause recommended the date of June 2, “reflects the rooting and resilience of democracy in Senegal of which Africa has always been proud”.
The AU “will deploy an observation mission that meets the challenges,” continues Mr. Faki. The EU “welcomes” the decisions of the Constitutional Council and the Senegalese presidency, highlighting “the great resilience” of democracy and the rule of law in Senegal through its institutions, the Commission spokesperson said on Thursday Nabila Massrali.
Nineteen candidates
The EU calls for “a peaceful electoral campaign and the holding of credible and transparent elections.” France, which also highlights the role played by the Constitutional Council, welcomes “the decision of President Macky Sall to organize the election on March 24” which “testifies to the strength of Senegalese democratic institutions”, according to a spokesperson for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Germany believes that the conditions for a free and democratic election “have finally been created,” in a statement from the German Foreign Ministry.
For its part, the United States “took note of Senegal’s decision to organize the first round of the postponed presidential election in March” in early February, in a message from the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs published Thursday on social network X. “We stand with the people of Senegal and their unwavering support for democracy and free and fair elections.”
The presidential election, perhaps the most open in the country’s contemporary history, will pit the nineteen candidates selected by the Constitutional Council against each other. The date of a second round, probable given the current state of applications, has not been communicated. The campaign will begin on Saturday and end on Friday, March 22, largely during the month of Ramadan. It will be shorter than the twenty-one days prescribed by the electoral code.