2nd protest death deepens crisis in Senegal
Senegal’s political crisis deepened as a second person died Saturday in increasingly violent protests against President Macky Sall’s decision to postpone upcoming presidential elections.
The latest violence has brought fresh condemnation from opposition leaders, some of whom were candidates for the presidency.
A fresh round of protests planned for Tuesday.
Market vendor Modou Gueye, 23, died Saturday after having been shot the previous day during clashes in the capital Dakar, two of his relatives told AFP.
His brother-in-law Mbagnick Ndiaye said he had succumbed to his injuries Saturday morning.
On Friday, Alpha Yoro Tounkara, a 22-year-old second-year geography student, died in the northern town of Saint-Louis in circumstances that remain unclear.
The city’s prosecutor said it had opened an investigation into the death. The interior ministry issued a statement denying that security forces had been operating on the university campus.
“The international and regional community must bear witness to the excesses of this dying regime,” said presidential candidate Khalifa Sall.
There has been growing anger
since President Sall last weekend postponed the presidential election, which had been scheduled for February 25. His announcement came hours before official campaigning was due to begin.
Despite growing protests inside the country and expressions of concern abroad, on Monday, deputies in the national assembly voted to put back the election to December.
Protests were held across the country Friday, and police made wide use of tear gas to keep crowds away from a main central square in Dakar, also closing main roads, rail lines and major markets.
Sall has said he postponed the election because of a dispute between parliament and the Constitutional Council over potential candidates barred from running. He has said he wants to begin a process of “appeasement and reconciliation.”
The United States and European Union, however, have criticized the postponement.
The crisis has called into question the West African country’s reputation for democratic stability in a region beset by military coups.