ECOWAS Commission urges Senegal to return to original electoral calendar

The ECOWAS Commission is urging the political class in Senegal to take urgent steps to restore the electoral calendar in accordance with the provisions of the country's Constitution.

The ECOWAS Commission in a statement dated Tuesday, February 6, 2024, advised against any action or statement that may contravene the provisions of Senegal's constitution.

It further reminded the people of Senegal and the political class of their responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the country.

Senegal’s Presidential Election: Incumbent Macky Sall postpones polls

President Macky Sall postponed Senegal's planned February 25 presidential election, announcing in a televised address to the nation that he had cancelled the relevant law due to electoral issues that according to him would fuel disputes.

With little more than three weeks to go before the vote, the unprecedented step of delaying the poll, to an unspecified date, pitches Senegal into uncharted constitutional waters that some opposition and civil society groups have said amounts to an "institutional coup."

Sall's decision follows the constitutional council's January decision to exclude some prominent contenders from the electoral list, which has fanned discontent about the election process.