Religious leaders in Senegal concerned over presidential election postponement

Catholic and Muslim religious leaders have, in the wake of President Macky Sall's indefinitely postponing the presidential election in Senegal, called for a stop to circumventing regulations and adherence to established rules crucial for progress.

"What matters most to me is that Senegal lives according to its constitution. That's essential!" Archbishop Benjamin Ndiaye of Dakar said February 4, the day after President Macky Sall announced the indefinite postponement of the presidential election, originally scheduled for February 25. "Bewildered by what's happening" in Senegal, the Archbishop based in the capital insists, "Senegalese must avoid the technique of circumvention. When there is a regulation, it is to be followed, not bypassed. When the regulation is respected, we can move forward."

Citing "a dispute between the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council, openly conflicting over an the case of two judges accused for alleged corruption," the Senegalese head of state announced in a televised address February 3, the postponement of the presidential election. Sall expressed his desire to avoid "a new crisis" in the country, following deadly unrest in March 2021 and June 2023. He also announced "a national dialogue" for "a free, transparent, and inclusive election" and reiterated his commitment not to run.

Speaking to the media after celebrating the Eucharist at Notre-Dame-de-la-Purification parish in Joal-Fadiouth, southeast of Dakar, the Archbishop Ndiaye emphasized that the peace desired by Senegal "comes through truth in words and actions." "Institutions must be respectable and respected in their missions so that we can move forward together," he said, reminding citizens that "our concern must be what we can say or do today that complies with the law and can build the nation, society, and not individual interests."

Avoiding an unnecessary risky postponement

Hours before the start of the electoral campaign for the presidency, Senegal's imams and preachers had raised their voices against any attempt to postpone this election, which many local observers attribute to the incumbent President Sall. In a statement from its national office February 2, the League of Imams and Preachers of Senegal invited him "to assess the situation properly and to avoid any decision that could expose our country to a risk of instability."

"Our country faces no severe threat to its institutions, nation, or the integrity of its territory, and any attempt to postpone the elections would carry unnecessary risks," warned the league of imams, calling on "all audible voices in the country to urge President Sall to heed this call and to take all responsibility to ensure an honorable exit and give our country every chance to remain a haven of peace and stability."

On February 4, as clashes broke out between security forces and protestors against this unprecedented postponement of the presidential election, a regional branch of the League of Imams and Preachers expressed its "disappointment" and asked "the President of the Republic to set another date." The league in Tambacounda, the largest city in eastern Senegal, also believes "this is an opportunity to release all political detainees wherever they are," and wishes that the Constitutional Council members accused of corruption be dismissed from their positions.