Crisis looms in Senegal as presidential election takes place
Monday, 20 February 2012 14:49
Senegal faces a tense build-up to the presidential election next Sunday, with opposition candidates planning new protests in the wake of a week of clashes on the streets of the country's cities. The incumbent, 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade, is running for a third term as president, arguing - with the support of the country's Constitutional Council - that the two-term limit in the current constitution does not apply to him because his presidency pre-dates its introduction.
But his determination to run has sparked widespread opposition, and parts of Dakar have been transformed into a war zone in recent days.
The downtown area is flooded with police, who have taken over Independence Square in an effort to stop opposition candidates from organizing any form of march or demonstration against Wade.
Clashes between heavily-armed security forces and the stone-throwing youth of the M23 movement - a grouping of opposition political parties and civil society organizations opposed to a third term - can be witnessed on street corners.
n other areas, the city resembles a ghost town, and tension is mounting in the heart of the capital, where business has been disrupted by protests and clashes.
Violence erupted during the second week of Senegal's electoral campaign last week, largely in clashes over demonstrations organized by candidates and members of M23 at Independence Square on February 17 and 18. The prefect of Dakar imposed a ban on the protests, confrontations ensued between police and crowds, and many were wounded.
Opposition presidential candidates had their share of harassment: Ibrahim Fall of the Takhaw Tem movement, Cheikh Abiboulaye Dièye (also known as Cheikh Bamba Dièye) of Le Front pour le socialisme et la démocratie/Benno Jubël (FSD/BJ) and Idrissa Seck of the IDY4PRÉSIDENT coalition, were chased and manhandled by police.
Confrontations have also taken place in other parts of the country. In the inland city of Kaolack, south-east of Dakar, one person was reported dead.
