The image illustrates the political chaos that Senegal is experiencing. Dozens of gendarmes broke into parliament this morning to push out members of the opposition who were protesting with shouts about the vote to officially postpone the presidential elections until December 15, 2024. In the images broadcast on television, several parliamentarians with their fists raised barricaded in the room to prevent the vote and later being evicted by armed police. “What is happening here is not democratic!” Guy Marius Sagna, one of several wayward parliamentarians, who was wearing a chest band in the colors of Senegal, can be heard shouting.
The antidemocratic drift of President Macky Sall in recent months was certified on Saturday in an unexpected and controversial turn of events, when the leader unexpectedly canceled the elections that were to be held in just three weeks, on February 25. Today’s vote sought to give legal coverage to the president’s decision, who justified his decision due to the conflict between Parliament and the Constitutional Court and the irregularities in the approval of candidacies.
Among the dozens of options rejected or blocked with judicial twists and turns to lock up their leaders is the case of the anti-system candidate with a powerful anti-colonial speech Ousmane Sonko, leader of the Pastef party, in prison since July 2023. According to analysts, Sonko, extremely popular among young people, he had a chance of deputizing power to Sall before he was removed from the presidential race due to strange accusations of rape.
The arguments of the Senegalese president to suspend the elections did not convince anyone. Khalifa Sall, opposition leader and former mayor of Dakar (no family relationship with the president despite the coincidence of surnames), called it a “constitutional coup” and called on the population to take to the streets to protest. The first clashes between protesters and police broke out on Sunday in the capital, Dakar, and other cities in the country. Several candidates such as Thierno Alassane Sall denounced the president’s “high treason” and called on his followers to protest in front of the National Assembly and “stay on the right side of history.”
Although President Sall has assured that he does not plan to run for a third term in office, something that would contravene the constitution that limits them to two, his critics believe that with his decisions of the last few hours he seeks to remain in power or leave a successor tied. of his rope to be able to exert his influence. Yesterday Parliament also voted that, despite the fact that his mandate will have expired, Sall will remain in power until the new president is elected.
Both from Senegalese civil society and from abroad, the antidemocratic drift of Senegal is observed with extreme concern, considered one of the most politically stable bastions in West Africa, and which is experiencing one of the most delicate and dark moments in recent decades. In the last few hours, the Senegalese authorities have ordered the blocking of the internet, the arrest of opponents and the closure of a television channel critical of the power. The fear of bloodshed again in street protests is on everyone’s mind. Amnesty International today called on the authorities to avoid the use of force against peaceful protests.
The crisis in Senegal occurs at a time of record arrivals from the African coasts to the Canary Islands. In 2023, 40,403 people arrived on Spanish soil through the dangerous Western Mediterranean route – the highest number since the so-called cayuco crisis of 2006 – and, according to Frontex data, another 6,766 had Senegalese nationality, although the The figure could be higher because the country of origin of half of the new arrivals was unknown.
