Senegalese presidential candidates confronted a shortened race to election day on Thursday after the constitutional council confirmed the delayed vote could be held on March 24, kick-starting a contest that continues to be extensive open
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Uncertainty over the date of the vote has gripped the West African nation since early February, when the authorities’ thwarted bid to postpone the Feb. 25 ballot by 10 months provoked widespread protests and warnings of democratic backsliding.
Many hope the worst of the disaster is over after the council dominated on Wednesday that the vote should be held earlier than President Macky Sall’s mandate expires on April 2, prompting him to schedule it for March 24 – a date the highest court docket has now permitted.
“Like all Senegalese folks, at the moment we really feel relieved to have resolved this subject that was inflicting us plenty of divisions,” stated physician Mohamed Diop on a busy thoroughfare within the capital Dakar.
The brand new date leaves the 19 candidates little greater than two weeks to canvas help. It additionally means for the primary time campaigning will happen throughout the holy month of Ramadan, when many within the Muslim-majority nation quick.
“That is an unprecedented scenario,” stated opposition candidate Thierno Alassane Sall in an announcement on Thursday, expressing the hope the election would “enable us to shut the painful chapter that has simply handed”.
The ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition’s candidate, Amadou Ba, sounded a assured be aware.
“From this night onwards, I will likely be devoting myself totally to getting ready for the presidential election … to make sure a victory within the first spherical,” he stated in an announcement late on Wednesday.
There aren’t any public election polls in Senegal, however Ba’s presidential prospects are removed from sure.
Even earlier than the postponement dispute, some inside the BBY coalition questioned the first-time candidate’s low profile with voters in contrast with seasoned rivals. In the meantime the authorities’ push to delay the vote may have undermined BBY’s already shaky help.
The affirmation of the date has additionally reassured the debt market. Senegal’s worldwide sovereign greenback bonds rose by greater than 2 cents on Thursday with the 2048 bond hitting its highest degree since early January, Tradeweb knowledge confirmed.
With a document variety of candidates within the race, the probabilities are excessive none of them will win greater than 50% of the vote and keep away from a second spherical head-to-head.
The current political turmoil may even have performed out in some candidates’ favour. An amnesty invoice proposed by Sall to ease tensions and handed by parliament on Wednesday is prone to result in the discharge from detention of Bassirou Faye, a candidate backed by standard opposition chief Ousmane Sonko.
(Reuters)