Senegalese President, Macky Sall had on Friday said that he would fully uphold the court decision that repealed the postponement of the presidential election to December, promising to hold consultations to organise the vote as soon as possible.
The bill that postponed the February 25 poll and plunged the country into electoral uncertainty was overruled on Thursday by Senegal’s Constitutional Council.
Meanwhile, President Sall has taken into account, the council’s decision and requested for the election to take place as soon as possible, on Friday.
The office of the Presidency had said: “The president plans to fully execute the constitutional council’s decision.”
Sall’s acquiescence to the ruling is no surprise as he has been under significant pressure to accept the ruling. The week-long electoral crisis had already led to bloody protests and warnings of authoritarian overreach in one of coup-hit West Africa’s more stable democracies.
West Africa’s main economic and political bloc ECOWAS, as well as opposition leaders and foreign powers including the United States and France had al urged authorities earlier on Friday to obey the judgement and immediately set a new date for the election.
Sall has prior to the ruling, said that he delayed the election because of a dispute over the candidate list and reported corruption within the Constitutional Council that he warned would subvert the credibility of the poll. But the council has denied the accusations.
Many opposition candidates have welcomed the council’s ruling and some have even hone as far as calling on Sall to set an election date before April 2, when his mandate will expire.
