Social unrest
January 29, 2012
Senegal's opposition has called for popular resistance against President Abdoulaye Wade, threatening to make the country "ungovernable" should he insist to run for a third term in next month's election.
"Abdoulaye Wade has declared war on the people," Amath Dansakho, the head of the opposition Independence and Labor Party and member of Senegal's June 23 Movement (M23), told reporters on on Saturday. "The decision that we have just made will prove to Wade that this is a country of free people," he added, following a meeting with other political and civil society leaders.
Relative calm had, however, returned to the streets of the capital Dakar on Saturday, a day after a decision taken by Senegal's top court to allow Wade to run to re-election triggered violent protests.
One policeman was killed as demonstrators threw rocks, overturned cars and burned tires. Security forces fired tear gas in the capital, Dakar, and dozens of M23 members were arrested in the wake of the protests including senior member Alioune Tine.
The Constitutional Council approved Wade's candidacy for the February 26 polls on Friday, despite claims it defies the constitutional limit of two terms. Wake, 85, who first came to power in 2000 and was re-elected in 2007, has asserted, however, that his first term pre-dated the 2001 amendment establishing the limit.
Calls for calm
Local rights bodies and the international community have issued calls for calm in the West African nation in the lead up to the election.
A joint declaration by Senegalese rights bodies and Amnesty International expressed "deep concern and fear over the current tension." They appealed for restraint and political dialogue "to allow a return to serenity and free, fair and peaceful elections."
Senegal's influential Mouride Muslim brotherhood said their leader Serigne Cheikh Sidy Moctar also called on citizens to "do what is needed to preserve peace in the country."
Wade is one of 14 candidates approved for next month's election. Music star Youssou N'Dour, meanwhile, has filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court after his presidential bid was rejected on the grounds he did not have the necessary 10,000 signatures of support.
Author: Charlotte Chelsom-Pill (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler