Uncertainty surrounds Senegal's upcoming departmental and municipal elections

The mandates of departmental and municipal councilors, elected on January 23, 2022, are set to expire in the coming months. Without legislative intervention to modify the mandate duration or postpone the elections, they must be held by January 22, 2027. However, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has not yet issued a decree convening the electorate or initiated the exceptional revision of electoral lists, which would allow new voters to register and others to change their voting locations.

Zahra Iyane Thiam, a former minister under Macky Sall and member of the Nouvelle Responsabilité party, expressed concern that these elections might be "postponed indefinitely" without official explanation, drawing parallels to maneuvers surrounding the early legislative elections of 2024. Moustapha Ndiaye, a Pastef municipal councilor, demanded that President Bassirou Diomaye Faye sign the decree to convene the electorate and immediately begin revising electoral lists, emphasizing that respecting the electoral calendar is a democratic requirement. Ndiaga Sylla, an electoral expert and president of Dialogue citoyen, warned that appropriate legal action would be taken if the situation is not clarified swiftly by the competent authorities, to protect suffrage rights and uphold the Electo