On Thursday 15 February, the Constitutional Council invalidated the postponement of the presidential election to 15 December, plunging the country further into uncertainty. Ednews reports citing Le Monde.
Referred to it by several members of the opposition and a dozen candidates for the supreme magistracy, the body declared "contrary to the Constitution" the law postponing by ten months the poll that was due to be held on 25 February and keeping President Macky Sall in office beyond the end of his term.
Although it also repealed the presidential decree that de facto modified the electoral timetable, the court did not set a new date for the ballot. Given the delay in the process, it merely noted that it was "impossible to organise the presidential election on the initially scheduled date" of 25 February and "invites the competent authorities to hold it as soon as possible".