Senegal’s Constitutional Council declared on Thursday that the parliament’s decision to postpone the presidential election slated for February 25 was unconstitutional, plunging the nation into a fresh wave of electoral uncertainty.
Last week, opposition presidential contenders and lawmakers lodged multiple legal challenges against the legislation that pushed back the vote to December, effectively extending President Macky Sall’s tenure—a move critics denounced as an institutional power grab.
The impasse has sparked widespread unrest and raised international apprehensions about the integrity of one of West Africa’s few remaining democracies amid a region marred by coups.
In a recent development, the Constitutional Council determined that the postponement law “runs counter to the constitution,” as per the council’s records.
Furthermore, the council invalidated a decree issued by Sall, before the election, which initiated the postponement process.
Neither the presidency nor the government responded to requests for comments.
The next course of action remains uncertain. Sall, ineligible to stand for re-election due to term limits, cited a disagreement over the candidate list and alleged corruption within the Constitutional Council as reasons for the delay.
While the council’s ruling did not specify a new election date, there are only 10 days left before the original polling day, with most candidates suspending their campaigns since Sall’s decree on February 3, just hours before campaigns were set to commence.
Ali Ngouille Ndiaye, a former minister and opposition candidate, remarked on local radio that the council’s decision has “opened a window for dialogue.
