DAKAR — The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has called on Senegal to proceed with its presidential election as originally planned for the end of this month, challenging the government's decision to postpone the vote by 10 months. This move by Senegalese authorities marks an unprecedented deviation from the electoral timeline in one of Africa's bastions of stability.

According to Burkina Information Agency, February 8, 2024, ECOWAS's appeal comes in response to concerns raised by the United Nations human rights office over the delay. President Macky Sall announced the postponement of the February 25 vote, attributing the decision to an electoral dispute involving the Parliament and the judiciary over certain candidates. This action has elicited strong criticism from opposition leaders and candidates, who have denounced it as a constitutional 'coup.' The opposition's grievances include the prevention of several MPs from participating in the vote that revised the election date to December. Originally, President Sall's term was set to conclude on April 2.

In its statement, ECOWAS emphasized the need for the Senegalese political community to "take urgent measures to restore the electoral calendar in accordance with the provisions of the Senegalese constitution." It is noteworthy that this is the first instance of a presidential election postponement in Senegal. However, the constitution does grant the Constitutional Council, the nation's supreme electoral body, the authority to delay the vote under certain exceptional circumstances.