Senegalese lawmakers on Monday, February 5, voted to delay this month's presidential election until December, an unprecedented move that has sparked international concern over a country normally seen as a beacon of stability in West Africa.
After hours of debating the postponement, and after police forcibly removed some opposition deputies from the chamber, lawmakers adopted the measure in the late evening hours. The law contains a provision to keep President Macky Sall in office until his successor is installed.
The mood in parliament was tense by early afternoon, with some deputies shoving and pushing one another, leading to a temporary recess. Earlier, security forces outside used tear gas to disperse small groups of opposition protesters, with demonstrators chanting "Macky Sall dictator".
The atmosphere in Senegal has been tense since Saturday when Sall announced a delay to the February 25 vote, just hours before campaigning was officially set to begin. "Let's not be an assembly of shame. Let's make sure that when we leave here we can look at our children with pride and say that we were the last wall, the last bulwark," said opposition MP Abass Fall during the debate.
Adopted a day earlier by a preparatory committee, the proposal for the election delay was supported by MPs from Sall's party. But it needed the support of three-fifths of deputies to pass. "President Macky Sall said he would serve two terms. He has kept his word," said MP Moussa Diakhate, chairman of the pro-government law committee.
Violence has previously broken out in Senegal over fears Sall would try to extend his tenure beyond the end of his second term, and he has previously insisted he would not.