Published on : 24/05/2022 – 17:57
Senegal is experiencing an intense debate around the validity of certain lists for the legislative elections of July 31. The Constitutional Council published its decisions on Tuesday morning after appeals filed by the opposition.
With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac
The Constitutional Council authorizes in particular la coalition d’opposition Yewwi Askan Wi to modify its list for the department of Dakar. This list had been invalidated by the Directorate General of Elections. Reason: non-respect of parity. This had provoked the anger of the mayor of Dakar, Barthélémy Dias, also head of the list in the department… According to the wise men of the Constitutional Council, the Yewwi Askan Wi coalition can indeed ” withdraw and substitute of the candidates. A relief for the coalition.
Another decision was published on Tuesday morning, this time concerning the list of the majority coalition Benno Bokk Yakaar, which had submitted more sponsorships than the number required by law. The opposition had seized the Council to invalidate this list. But according to the institution, these remedies are “ inadmissible “. Two decisions that go in the direction of appeasement “, according to human rights defender Alioune Tine, of the think tank Afrikajom center.
#Senegal next / On the debate around the surplus of sponsorships for the Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition: for the CC, the appeals filed by the opposition to invalidate the BBY list are inadmissible #kebetu pic.twitter.com/09skInWSWg
— Charlotte Idrac (@CharlotteIdrac) May 24, 2022
But this is not the end of the debate: the two main coalitions accuse each other of having made other errors on the lists. For problems, again, of non-respect of parity on the majority list or the nomination of the same person twice on the national list of Yewwi Askan Wi… “ This is the first time in the history of Senegal that we have had so many problems. “, declared this Monday evening Khalifa Sall, who spoke of “ cacophony ».
The former mayor of Dakar and one of the leaders of the coalition Yewwi Askan Wi has called for a rally against what he describes as ” forfeiture “, from “ Two weights, two measures of the electoral administration, for ward off opposition ” according to him. In the process, Ousmane Sonko, head of the national list for Yewwi Askan Wi called for ” résistance “, with a call to a” mobilization of 200,000 people in Dakar. For its part, the presidential coalition accused the opposition ” smoke “. The tone is raised, therefore, in view of these legislative elections. Several civil society organizations have warned of the risk of political violence.