麻豆约拍

The president of Senegal, Macky Sall, says he will leave office on the second of April when his mandate comes to an end. During a televised interview, Mr Sall said he did not believe it would be possible to reschedule the elections he tried to cancel before that date and said he would hold a national dialogue to decide what should happen next.

The elections should have been happening in the next two days, but three weeks ago President Sall unexpectedly postponed the vote. There followed political uproar and street protests. Then the Constitutional Council ruled that delaying the elections was illegal and the government had to reschedule them as soon as possible.

Senegal has long been seen as one of the most stable democracies in West Africa, so how is the country coping with the new uncertainties? Newsday asked political analyst, Ibrahima Kane.

"I believe the President is playing with the nerves of the Senegalese. The Constitutional Council asked the authorities to set a date for the election. We were all waiting for the President to tell us the date... but instead he decided to organise a consultation for next Monday and Tuesday. So instead of telling us what to do he's complicated the lives of the Senegalese."

(Pic: President Macky Sall; Credit: Reuters)

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