Stop the constitutional coup in Senegal, group tells ECOWAS
The African intellectuals and Civil Society activists under the umbrella of The Electoral Forum, have expressed shock and utter disgust at
the use of gendarmes to physically expel opposition parliamentarians from the legislative chamber for the passage of an unconstitutional Bill extending the
tenure of President Macky Sall into a third term and postponing the presidential
elections scheduled for the 25th of February 2024.
In a statement signed by the chairman of the group Adebayo Olukoshi, the activists say the situation in Senegal is a clear violation of the rule of law and the democratic rights of the Senegalese people, and also a violation of the African Union Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance;
and the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, which Senegal has
acceded to and domesticated.
They therefore urged the Senegalese government
to respect the sanctity of the democratic process.
They said they have followed with keen interest the determination of the Senegalese people to
blockall attempts by President Macky Sall to secure a third term and his announcement
not to seek such an illegal tenure that is categorically banned by the Constitution of
Senegal. They described his public declaration as a ruse to deceive the people and
continue his megalomaniac ambition to extend his rule.
They also accused the president of deploying the police to brutally stop all demonstrations,
close down the internet and continue to use the justice system to jail and intimidate all
those who oppose his ambition.
They called on ECOWAS, AU and UN to openly declare the actions of President Sall and the rogue legislators who supported his unconstitutional Bill to be in breach of the
Constitution while demanding for an immediate return to the Constitutional order and
the scheduled election timeframe.
