Supporters of Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye celebrate after the two men were released from prison, in Dakar on March 14, 2024. - Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and his second-in-command, presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, were released from prison in Dakar on March 14, 10 days before the country's election. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP)
Senegal’s top court on Friday upheld the holding of a deferred presidential election on March 24, rejecting an attempt by disqualified candidates to cancel the date.
The rejected candidates and allied lawmakers had called for presidential decrees setting the date of the vote and the duration of the campaign to be temporarily suspended.
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The electoral process would have been called into question at the last minute had the Supreme Court accepted the requests.
The court said the issue did not fall within its purview, adding that the Constitutional Council had “full jurisdiction in electoral matters”.
President Macky Sall postponed the February election and tried to push it back to December at the last minute, sparking a crisis and deadly protests. He was then forced to reset the date to March 24.
© Agence France-Presse
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