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Explainer: What is happening in Senegal and could tensions escalate?

Explainer: What is happening in Senegal and could tensions escalate?

SENEGALESE President Macky Sall has promised to schedule a presidential election as soon as possible, accepting a court judgement that the postponement of the February 25 poll to December was unconstitutional. The opposition and foreign powers had urged the authorities to comply with the constitutional council's ruling. The move to do so is likely to ease tensions and allay fears of authoritarian overreach in one of coup-hit West Africa's more stable democracies. WHY DID PRESIDENT MACKY SALL CALL FOR A POSTPONEMENT? Sall, 62, who is not standing for re-election and has reached the constitutional limit of two terms in power, said he…
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Senegal opposition candidates file legal challenges to election postponement

Senegal opposition candidates file legal challenges to election postponement

THREE opposition candidates in Senegal's presidential election filed legal challenges to the president's abrupt postponement of the election, as riot police fired tear gas to break up a protest outside parliament. While protesters shouted slogans on the streets, lawmakers inside the National Assembly building debated into the evening a bill that would reschedule the February 25 vote to August 25 and extend President Macky Sall's mandate until his successor is installed. Sall's unprecedented announcement on Saturday pitched the West African nation into uncharted constitutional waters that threaten to tarnish its reputation as a bastion of democratic stability in a region swept by…
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