By Diadie Ba and Bate Felix
DAKAR (Reuters) – The coalition backing Senegalese presidential candidate Khalifa Sall said on Saturday it was opposed to postponing the Feb. 25 election as proposed by another party which said it had concerns over the integrity of the vote.
The Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), whose candidate was excluded from the running in January, formally requested a postponement on Friday in a move that could derail the electoral process little more than three weeks from the poll.
State television unexpectedly announced that President Macky Sall, who is no relation of Khalifa Sall, would give a speech to the nation at 1200 GMT, fuelling speculation he might address the question of postponement.
In a statement, Khalifa Sall’s coalition said delaying the vote would undermine the legitimacy of the election and amount to an “institutional coup d’etat”.
A postponement “would pave the way for unprecedented political instability, throwing Senegal into a period of uncertainty with disastrous consequences”, it said, calling on others to reject the proposal.
Senegal has never delayed a presidential vote. Its four largely peaceful transitions of power via the ballot box since independence from France in 1960 have built up its reputation as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
The influential League of Imams and Preachers of Senegal on Saturday also warned of the dangers of postponement and appealed directly to President Sall to take steps to avoid fueling instability.
“Any attempt to postpone the elections would be fraught with pointless risks,” it said in a statement.
“As Senegal is stable in all respects and on track for elections, the wisest decision for the head of state would be to do everything possible to ensure that free and transparent elections are held.”
Senegalese voters are due to choose a successor to President Sall, who is not seeking a third term. For the first time in Senegal’s history, the incumbent is not on the ballot. His handpicked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Ba, is among 20 candidates cleared by the constitutional council to run.
Tensions have risen in recent weeks over the council’s decision to exclude prominent contenders such as the PDS’s Abdoulaye Wade and opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko from the running. They say the rules for candidacy were not applied fairly. The authorities deny this.
(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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