Protesters and security forces clash in Senegal over election delay

Parliament voted to push the polls back to December after President Macky Sall announced a postponement last week.

Security forces in Senegal have clashed with hundreds of protesters who are opposed to the delay of the presidential election that was supposed to take place on February 25.

In Dakar, police fired tear gas on crowds and prevented people from meeting and gathering to protest, according to Al Jazeera’s Nicholas Haque, reporting from the capital on Friday.

“There have been running battles between protesters and police and security forces. Most of the demonstrators are quite young, many 18-year-olds. They were barely 12 when President Macky Sall came to power. They want to have a say in this election,” Haque said.

Less than three weeks before the polls were meant to take place, parliament voted to push it back to December 15, upholding Sall’s earlier postponement announcement and sealing an extension of his mandate.

But the move has provoked fears that one of the remaining healthy democracies in coup-hit West Africa is under threat.