By Sunday Elijah
The Constitutional Court of Senegal has invalidated the decree enacted by President Macky Sall’s and a contentious bill passed by the parliament shifting the country’s election to December.
According to the Council, the decision to postpone the general election slated for February was against the country’s constitution.
Widespread protests have gripped the West African country, once considered a bastion of democracy in the region.
Opposition figures said it amounted to a “constitutional coup”.
Mr Sall had announced he was pushing the election back because of concerns over the eligibility of opposition candidates.
His proposal was backed by 105 out of the 165 MPs after a fiery debate which saw police remove some opposition MPs from the chamber. A six-month postponement was originally proposed, but a last-minute amendment extended it to 10 months, meaning a new election date of 15 December.
Mr Sall had reiterated that he was not planning to run for office again. But his critics accused him of trying to cling to power or unfairly influencing whoever succeeds him.