Senegal: Top court overturns election postponement

Senegal’s Constitutional Council has ruled that the postponement of the February 25 presidential vote was unlawful.

The country’s parliament in an unprecedented move voted to back President Macky Sall’s decision to delay the vote until December.

That delay further extends Sall’s mandate but on Thursday the top court said the move was not in line with the constitution.

Opposition presidential candidates and lawmakers last week filed legal challenges to the bill passage in parliament.

They said the move by President Sall amounted to an “institutional coup.” The Constitutional Council ruled that “the (postponement) law … is contrary to the constitution.”

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It also ruled to cancel the decree announced by Sall ahead of the vote that had set the postponement in motion.

It is not clear what happens next since in its decision, the council did not specify when the election should be held.

President Sall, is not standing in the vote after reaching his constitutional limit of two terms in power.

He had said the delay to the election was due to a dispute over the candidate list and alleged corruption within the Constitutional Council.

Source: Africafeeds.com