The Senegalese Constitutional Council has nullified President Macky Sall’s decision to postpone the presidential election from February 25, 2024, to December 15.
The judgment, delivered on Thursday, February 15, opposes an earlier decision by the National Assembly, which supported the Head of State’s February 3 decree postponing elections.
The electoral body asserted that the postponement law is contrary to the country’s Constitution.
President Macky Sall’s decree no. 2024-106 of February 3 repealed the decree convening the electoral body for the presidential election of February 25.
On February 5, amid protests by opposition lawmakers, the National Assembly adopted No. 4/2024 backing President Sall’s elections postponement decision.
The President, who announced last year that he won’t be seeking another mandate, had argued that the postponement was necessary because of disagreements among politicians.
However, the Constitutional Council said the postponement was against the constitution and emphasized the urgency of holding the presidential election as soon as possible.
“Considering that the constitutional court has already decided, on the one hand, that the duration of the mandate of the President of the Republic cannot be reduced or extended according to political circumstances, whatever the objective pursued; that the mandate of the President of the Republic cannot be extended under the provisions of the aforementioned article 103; that the date of the election cannot be postponed beyond the duration of the mandate; that, on the other hand, the contested law introduces into the Constitution provisions whose temporary and personal character is incompatible with the permanent and general character of a constitutional provision,” the lawmaking body said.
This decision introduces an element of legal uncertainty, suggesting that the electoral saga in Senegal is far from concluded. While the lawmaking body dismissed the cancelation of elections, it failed to set a new date for the event.
