The Supreme Court of Senegal rejected an appeal on Friday by the Democratic Front for an Inclusive Election (Democratic Front) and the Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS) to halt the incoming presidential elections in March 2024. According to the court, the demands to stop the presidential elections held no substantive basis and were thus inadmissible.
Both the PDS and the Democratic Front filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, expressing their dissatisfaction with the Constitutional Court’sdecision to set the presidential elections to March and exclude some contenders from the race. Particularly, PDS took issue with Decree 2024-690, which determined the presidential election date, Decree 2024-691, assembling the electoral body, and Decree 2024-704, denoting the electoral campaign timeframe for the March 24 election. PDS contended that these directives violated numerous electoral code stipulations, most notably, the campaign time restriction.
In March, the Constitutional Court stated that the date initially assigned by the National Dialogue Commission (June 2) wasunconstitutional, as it exceeded the constitutionally prescribed term of the current president, President Macky Sall. The court emphasized that scheduling the presidential elections beyond an incumbent president’s term limit could instigate a constitutional crisis. Pursuant toArticle 36 of their constitution, choosing a date beyond the presidential term would mean that President Sall would effectively remain in office until his successor was appointed.
Following the Constitutional Court’s decision to advance the presidential election date to March 24, Parliamentvoted in February to delay the elections until March, which invited widespread criticism and protests. This decision, put forth by President Sall, was formalized through a bill.
This information was first reported at JURIST – News.