Senegalese security forces on Friday clashed with hundreds of protesters opposed to the delay of a presidential election, as the justice minister rejected allegations that the postponement was an attempted power-grab.
Less than three weeks before the February 25 vote, parliament voted to push it back to December, sealing an extension of President Macky Sall's mandate.
In the capital Dakar, police in riot gear fired tear gas, stun grenades and what appeared to be rubber bullets at crowds of protesters who were burning tyres and throwing stones, in the most serious bout of unrest yet over the delay, Reuters news agency reports.
Sall, who has reached his constitutional limit of two terms, said he delayed the vote due to a dispute over the candidate list that threatened the credibility of the electoral process.
Break with tradition
Some critics accuse him of trying to cling to power, while the West African bloc and foreign powers have criticized the move as a break with Senegal's democratic tradition.
"Senegal has perhaps never experienced a crisis like the one we are experiencing and we must overcome it," said Justice Minister Aissata Tall Sall. "We must calm spirits."
In an interview, Tall Sall said the postponement was not the president's decision but parliament's. She also said legal challenges filed to the Constitutional Court did not fall in its jurisdiction.
"This postponement of the presidential election was done in perfect conformity with the constitution," said Tall Sall, adding that it was initiated by a group of parliamentarians.
Legal challenges
The bill was passed by 105 legislators in the 165-seat assembly after security forces broke up an attempt by a group of opposition members to block the vote and dispersed street protests with tear gas.
Thirty-nine lawmakers in opposition coalition Yewwi Askan Wi and several opposition presidential candidates have since filed legal challenges with the Constitutional Court.
Tall Sall said the court could not handle these because they did not fall in its purview. She did not say which legal body would look at the challenges, but said the fact opponents were turning to the courts meant "we are in a functioning democracy."
However, she conceded the postponement had pitched Senegal into unprecedented uncertainty.
Senegal has so far been spared the coups and conflict that have destabilised parts of the region in recent years. This is the first time that a presidential election has been postponed since its independence from France in 1960.
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