It took an entire day of debates in the National Assembly in an electric atmosphere – parliamentarians even coming to blows – to validate the controversial postponement of the presidential election in Senegal.

The law postponing the vote initially scheduled for February 25 to December 15, 2024 was finally adopted on the night of Monday February 5 to Tuesday February 6, almost unanimously, by 105 votes for and one vote against, after the deputies of the The opposition, who obstructed the vote, were evacuated manu militari by the gendarmerie.

The president, Macky Sall, will remain in office until the installation of his successor, specifies another provision of the law.

The text, presented by the camp of the opponent Karim Wade – whose candidacy was invalidated by the Constitutional Council – is supported by that of the president, Macky Sall, who announced on Saturday the postponement of the vote. This decision was taken to “avoid institutional instability and serious political unrest”, and carry out “a complete resumption of the electoral process”, explained deputies in the preparatory committee in a report. The postponement of more than six months makes it possible to take into account the “realities of the country”, in particular the difficulty of holding an electoral campaign in the middle of the rainy season, between July and November, or the collision with major religious festivals, underlines the report.

“Senegal’s image is ruined”

During the day on Monday, around Parliament, the gendarmes repelled sporadic attempts to gather at the call of the opposition with tear gas. Small groups retreated further, chanting “Macky Sall dictator! “.

With the postponement of the presidential election, the opposition suspects a plan to avoid the inevitable defeat, according to it, of the presidential camp, or even to prolong the presidency of Macky Sall, despite the commitment reiterated on Saturday by the latter not to run again .

“The situation is completely catastrophic, the image of Senegal is ruined and I do not think that we will soon recover from this democratic failure, from this tsunami in the rule of law,” reacted after the vote Ayib Daffé, a opposition MP. “President Macky Sall said he would serve two terms. He respected his word,” said Moussa Diakhaté, majority deputy and president of the law committee.

The Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, the United States, the European Union, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, important partners of Senegal, expressed their concerns.

Internet cut

On Sunday, the authorities repressed the first attempts at gatherings. The Internet was cut off on Monday, a means that has become commonplace to stop mobilizations and already used by the Senegalese government in June 2023, in a context of political crisis.

Many rights organizations, Senegalese and international, have condemned these restrictions on the Internet as well as the suspension of the license of the private television Walf TV. They called on the authorities to guard against excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and attacks on freedoms. “Senegal has long been considered a model of democracy in the region. This reality is now under threat,” Human Rights Watch wrote even though the country has never experienced a coup d’état.

The crisis makes Senegal fear another bout of fever like those it experienced in March 2021 and June 2023, which caused dozens of deaths and gave rise to hundreds of arrests. The vagueness maintained for months by President Sall regarding a new candidacy in 2024 had contributed to the tensions at the time. He finally announced in July 2023 that he would not seek a new term.

Despite widely shared indignation on social networks, the protest against the postponement of the presidential election did not massively reach the streets. The University of Dakar, a historic center of protest, has been closed since the unrest of 2023 and the anti-system Pastef party has been hit by the arrests.