‘We are at crossroads’: Tension builds in Senegal amid election delay
Al Jazeera
As the parliamentary debate continues over election delay, concerns are mounting among common Senegalese people.
Dakar, Senegal – Plateau, the downtown Dakar neighbourhood that is home to the country’s National Assembly, was tense but quiet on Monday morning. Inside parliament, the assembly was anything but.
Lawmakers were debating on President Macky Sall’s announcement to postpone general elections – originally scheduled for February 25 – for an additional six months.
The announcement has left Fatou Djibril Ndour, 29, in disbelief.
“I am among the people who voted [for] Macky Sall in 2012 and 2019, but I regret. This is not good for a country,” the waitress at a restaurant in the nearby neighbourhood of Ouakam, tells Al Jazeera.
The decision to delay the vote has been controversial and has ignited protests in the capital, and put the police on high alert. The police fired tear gas at opposition supporters on Sunday and beat some with batons.
