The law postponing the presidential election in December is contrary to the Constitution, according to the Constitutional Council

The Constitutional Council has ruled that the law postponing the Senegalese presidential election until December 15 is contrary to the Constitution. At the same time, he canceled the decree with which Macky Sall renounced the summons of voters to the polls for the election of a new President of the Republic on February 25. 'The law derogating from the provisions of article 31 of the Constitution, adopted […] by the National Assembly in its session of February 5, 2024, is contrary to the Constitution', write the members of this high court in a decision delivered this Thursday. 'The decree […] of February 3, 2024 repeating the decree summoning the electorate for the presidential election of February 25, 2024 is canceled,' they add. The members of the Constitutional Council had received three requests aimed at maintaining the presidential election on the date initially scheduled. One of the requests was filed by 40 deputies, including Mouhamed Ayib Salim Daffé and Samba Dang. Another request came from 17 o ther deputies, including Babacar Mbaye. A third request was filed with the Constitutional Council by El Hadji Malick Gakou, Cheikh Tidiane Dièye, Habib Sy, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, El Hadji Mamadou Diao, Thierno Alassane Sall and Daouda Ndiaye, all candidates in the presidential election. The candidacy files of these seven personalities were deemed admissible by the Constitutional Council, like those of 13 other candidates, before the cancellation, by Macky Sall, of the decree with which he summoned voters to the polls on February 25. Senegal has been facing a political crisis since Macky Sall announced that he had canceled the decree calling on the Senegalese to elect his successor. In making this decision on February 3, he cited suspicions of corruption concerning magistrates among those who examined the 93 application files and deemed 20 of them admissible. Addressing the nation, the Head of State called for 'an open national dialogue, in order to create the conditions for a free, transparent and inclus ive election in a peaceful Senegal'. The National Assembly voted, two days later, on a parliamentary proposal postponing the presidential election until December 15. During the vote, deputies protesting against this proposal and the postponement of the vote were expressed from the hemicycle by the National Gendarmerie. Source: Burkina Information Agency