Monrovia — Senegalese President Macky Sall said, during an interview, that he has no regrets for his decision to postpone the country’s presidential election.
Speaking to the BBC, Sall said all measures taken at the time were in line with the rules and regulations governing the electoral process. “No legal or judicial institution has cast any doubt on the sincerity of the actions that were taken,” Sall said.
Senegal was due to hold elections on February 25, 2024, to elect a successor to Sall, whose two terms as president ends on April 2. His decision to postpone the vote by several months just days before it was due to take place sparked protests, resulting in several deaths and disruption to economic activities. Then the Constitutional Council declared the postponement illegal, and a new date was set earlier this month for the delayed election, followed by the release of political prisoners.
But as campaigning heats up, some Senegalese called on the president to take responsibility for his actions and apologize. “This is not a matter of apologizing or not apologizing,” Sall said, “from the moment where the parliament….takes the initiative to vote on a law, the president of the country who holds executive power has to take that into account.”
Sall said everything he did was in accordance with the country’s Constitution, while also repeating that he will step aside when his tenure ends.