Senegalese campaigns for presidential elections kicks off after postponement crisis

By Mustafa Al-Marini RABAT, March 10 (KUNA) -- The presidential election campaigns began on Sunday in Senegal amid hopes of overcoming the political crisis that erupted after the postponement of the presidential elections, which was scheduled for February 25.
The Senegalese News Agency reported that the electoral campaign came in preparation for the presidential vote scheduled for March 24 after the Constitutional Council obligated the executive authorities to organize presidential elections before the end of the term of current President Macky Sall on April 2.
President Sall issued a presidential decree published by the Senegalese News Agency on Thursday announcing the start of the presidential election campaigns, which continues in accordance with the decisions of the Constitutional Council on March 9-22.
Post campaigns, the first round of the presidential elections will occur on March 24 with 19 candidates participating according to the list approved by the Constitutional Council earlier, the candidates have only eight days to win voters' trust instead of the 21 days due to emergency circumstances.
Among the candidates are the former Prime Ministers Amadou Ba -who is the ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition's candidate- and Idrissa Seck and the former Dakar Mayor Khalifa Sall.
The African Union (AU), the US and the EU all welcomed the end of the political crisis after setting the date for the presidential elections and called on all parties to work for a fair democratic election.
In a statement published by the Mauritanian News Agency on Saturday, Mauritanian AU President Mohamed Ghazouani said that democracy was deep-rooted in Senegal and called on all candidates and political parties in Senegal to work to strengthen this constructive dynamic to hold transparent and fair elections.
Tension and protests have erupted in Senegal earlier in February when President Macky Sall announced the presidential elections' postponement by 10 months which were due on February 25.
President Sall announced in the postponement speech that his motives envisage a comprehensive national dialogue to assess the democratic path in Senegal and obtain the necessary consensus between the parties to the political crisis; however, the Senegalese public were not convinced on the election postponement.
The Senegalese public went out in mass demonstrations in order to preserve the democratic tradition that the Senegalese have been practicing since 1963, which requires calling on voters periodically and regularly to choose the president within the framework of legislative and presidential elections.
Senegal is one of the few African countries where legislative and presidential elections are held periodically and regularly since the sixties, which made observers classify it among the few successful democracies in the African regional.
Unlike its neighbors, Senegal was able to maintain the peaceful rotation of power and withstand the coups that swept the region, while it maintained its democracy despite the tremors it experienced.
However, this perfect image has started to change under President Macky Sall, due to sharp political polarization between personalities and parties with ambitions to monopolize power and control the political scene, leading to the deviation of the political system in the country into a kind of authoritarianism.
This began to emerge years ago through a conflict between the authorities and the opposition, in which the tools of the judiciary and administration were used to prevent opponents and new political leaders from reaching power, which led to the outbreak of demonstrations and protests. (end) mri.dss