Senegal’s presidential candidates faced a shortened election day on Thursday after the Constitutional Council confirmed the postponement of the vote to March 24, opening a race that remains open.
Uncertainty over the date of the vote has dogged the West African country since early February, when authorities were thwarted in an attempt to postpone the Feb. 25 vote by 10 months, triggering widespread protests and warnings of democratic backsliding.
The committee ruled on Wednesday that the vote must be held before President Macky Sall’s term expires on April 2, prompting him to schedule the vote for March 24 – a date now approved by the Supreme Court and when many hope the crisis will be at its lowest. The serious period is over.
“Like all Senegalese people, we are relieved today to have resolved an issue that has divided us so much,” Dr. Mohamed Diop said on a busy thoroughfare in the capital Dakar.
The new dates leave 19 candidates with just over two weeks to drum up support. It also means the campaign will take place for the first time during Ramadan, when many people in the Muslim-majority country fast.
Opposition candidate Tierno Alassane Sarr said in a statement on Thursday that “this is an unprecedented situation” and expressed hope that the election would “allow us to close the painful chapter that has just passed.”
Amadou Ba, the candidate of the ruling coalition Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY), sounded confident.
“Starting tonight, I will devote all my energy to preparations for the presidential election… to ensure victory in the first round,” he said in a statement late Wednesday.
There are no open elections in Senegal, but the country’s presidential prospects are far from certain.
Even before the postponement controversy, some within the BBY coalition questioned the first-time candidate’s low profile among voters compared with more seasoned rivals. Meanwhile, the authorities’ push to postpone the vote threatens to weaken BBY’s already shaky support.
With a record number of candidates in the race, it’s likely that no one will win more than 50% of the vote and avoid a head-to-head race in the second round.
Recent political turmoil may also be beneficial to some candidates. An amnesty bill proposed by Sa’ar to ease tensions and passed by parliament on Wednesday could lead to the release of detained Bassirou Faye, the popular opposition leader Ousmane Candidate supported by Ousmane Sonko.
