The presidential candidates in Senegal have launched their shortened campaigns on Saturday, March 9, two days after a court confirmed that the general election would be held on March 24. The announcement had put an end to weeks of uncertainty and launched a competition that remains wide open.
Tensions have seized the country since early February, when a bid by President Macky Sall to shift by 10 months, —a vote that had been due to take place on February 25— led to widespread protests and warnings by critics of democratic backsliding.
Right now however, the worst of the crisis appears to be over after the Constitutional Council ruled that the vote must be held before Sall’s mandate terminates on April 2.
The new date leaves the 19 candidates a little more than two weeks, rather than the usual 21 days, to gather support.
It also means that for the first time ever, campaigning in the majority Muslim nation will be held during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins on Sunday night.
The campaign period also tallies with the Christian period of Lent.
President Sall, aged 62, who has reached the constitutional limit of two terms in power, said he had delayed the poll because of a dispute over candidates and alleged corruption within the Constitutional Council that approved the list. The council however denied the accusations.
Khalifa Sall, who is not related to the president but is one of the candidates vying for presidency had said:
“We will have to demonstrate flexibility and ingenuity. But the important thing is we have a date and we will vote.”
The charismatic former mayor, had been prevented by a jail sentence from contesting in the 2019 presidential election. He was later pardoned and had launched his campaign as the clock struck midnight on Friday, March 8.
Khaliga Sall had pledged to re-unite the divided country and reform state institutions to avoid future constitutional crises. He lao promised to revive the economy by promoting agriculture, fishing and the budding oil and gas industry.
