Senegal’s Constitutional Court has made a ruling in order to void the passing of a bill by parliament to delay Senegal’s February 25th election.
The court declared the delay as “contrary to the constitution”. The delay, passed by the government on February 5th, sought to delay the election by 10 months until December 15th, amidst a parliamentary inquiry into the independence of two judges of the Constitutional Court after the court barred two opposition leaders from running in the election.
Critics have accused the ruling party of using the barring of opposition leaders as an excuse to stay in power, with it being uncertain whether or not they would win the election. Since the announcement of the delay, Senegal has been gripped in intense protests.
It is unclear if the courts voiding of the election delay means Senegal will return to it’s initial February 25th election date.
