Senegalese President Macky Sall has announced the indefinite postponement of the presidential election scheduled for February 25, just hours before official campaigning was due to start.
In an address to the nation on Saturday, Sall said he signed a decree abolishing a previous measure that set the date as lawmakers investigate two Constitutional Council judges whose integrity in the election process has been questioned.
"I will begin an open national dialogue to bring together the conditions for a free, transparent and inclusive election," Sall added without giving a new date.
It is the first time a Senegalese presidential election has been postponed.
Growing discontent
The constitutional council's decision to exclude prominent contenders such as the PDS's Karim Wade and opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko has fuelled growing discontent about the election process.
The excluded candidates say the rules for candidacy were not applied fairly. The authorities deny this.
"These troubled conditions could seriously undermine the credibility of the ballot by sowing the seeds of pre- and post-electoral disputes," Sall said in his address.
20 presidential candidates
A November 2023 decree signed by Sall fixed the election for February 25, with 20 candidates in the running but without two major opposition figures.
Sall had repeatedly said he would hand over power in early April to the winner of the vote.
After announcing he would not run for a third term as president, Sall designated Prime Minister Amadou Ba from his party as his would-be successor.
The Constitutional Council has excluded dozens of candidates from the vote, including firebrand anti-system figurehead Ousmane Sonko and Karim Wade, son of former president Abdoulaye Wade.
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