Senegal sets delayed presidential elections for March 24

President Macky Sall has also dissolved the government and named Sidiki Kaba as the new prime minister.

Senegal will hold its delayed presidential election on March 24, the government has said, following weeks of political turmoil and violent protests calling for an immediate vote.

The announcement on Wednesday after a cabinet meeting followed a February ruling in which the country’s top court declared that outgoing President Macky Sall’s plans to hold the vote after his term expires on April 2 were unconstitutional.

Sall also dissolved the government on Wednesday, replacing Prime Minister Amadou Ba with Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba. The presidency said that change would help Ba, who is the ruling coalition’s presidential candidate, focus on his electoral campaign.

It is the latest twist in a charged Senegal where Sall’s decision to delay elections originally set for February 25, citing errors in the electoral process, led to violent unrest, and warnings from the country’s international allies that its reputation as one of coup-hit West Africa’s more stable democracies is under threat.