Senegal police fire tear gas to break up protest over vote delay
DIONE DAKAR (Reuters) – Riot police fired tear gas to break up crowds trying to gather outside Senegal’s National Assembly on Monday to protest against the president’s abrupt postponement of elections over the weekend.
As protesters shouted slogans, lawmakers inside the parliament building started debating a bill that would reschedule the February 25 vote to August 25 and extend President Macky Sall’s mandate until his successor is installed.
Sall’s unprecedented announcement on Saturday pitched the West African nation into uncharted constitutional waters that threaten to further tarnish its reputation as a bastion of democratic stability in a region swept by coups.
“They are trying to extend the president’s term, which is illegal and not allowed,” protester Mohammad Mbengue said.
Around 100 people gathered outside the parliament on Monday, after confrontations on Sunday, chanting, “Macky Sall is a dictator.” Police chased them into side streets and made arrests.
Authorities temporarily restricted mobile Internet access from Sunday night, citing hate messages on social media and threats to public order. Several schools sent pupils home early.
The private Walf television channel said it was taken off the air on Sunday, and its license was revoked.
“Senegal has been known as a country with a strong democracy, but this is no longer the case,” a protester who only gave his first name, Dame, told Reuters. “The only thing we want is a fair election.”
He said he was worried Sall would cling on to power indefinitely.
The African Union on Monday joined a chorus of calls from regional bodies and Western governments for a new election date to be set as soon as possible.
Sall said he had delayed the election due to a dispute over the candidate list and alleged corruption within the constitutional body that handled the list.
The opposition Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), whose candidate was barred from running because of dual-nationality issues, supports a delay and proposed the postponement bill in parliament before Sall’s announcement.
But others angrily rejected the delay. The F24 platform, a large group of civil-society organizations behind past demonstrations, and opposition presidential candidate Khalifa Sall called it an “institutional coup.”