Three people died in protests in Senegal

The announcement of the election postponement just three weeks before the vote scheduled for February 25 sparked violent clashes on Friday between protesters and police in Dakar and several other cities, in a wave of unrest that many fear will turn into prolonged unrest.

President Macky Sall said the delay was necessary because electoral disputes had threatened the credibility of the election, but some opposition lawmakers denounced the move as an "institutional coup".

Senegalese protesters clash with riot police on February 25, in Dakar, Senegal February 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS

The death of a young man reported in the southern city of Zinguinchor on Saturday evening brought the death toll linked to the protests to three, according to Cartogra Free Senegal (CFS), a civil society platform that tracks casualties.

“We tried to save him when he arrived at the hospital but unfortunately he passed away...”, Ndiame Diop, director of Ziguinchor hospital, said the exact cause of death could not be determined without an autopsy.

A spokesman for Senegal's Interior Ministry has so far confirmed only one death, a student in the northern city of Saint-Louis on Friday.

The US Bureau of African Affairs said in an online post on Saturday that it was saddened to learn of the first two deaths: “We call on all parties to act peacefully and with restraint, and we continue to call on President Sall to restore the election schedule, restore confidence and bring calm to the situation.”

Opposition lawmakers and presidential candidates who rejected the postponement filed a legal complaint and said they would refuse to recognize Sall as president after his initial term expires in early April.

The delay bill backed by parliament includes extending his term until his successor is appointed after the election now rescheduled for December 15.

“If President Macky Sall does not restore power to us by April 3, we will form a parallel government of national unity,” opposition lawmaker Guy Marius Sagna said on radio on Sunday.

Mai Anh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/ba-nguoi-tu-vong-trong-cac-cuoc-bieu-tinh-o-senegal-post284307.html