Senegal has been a democracy since 1960 when it first gained independence. It is one of the only countries in Africa to have never suffered a coup since their independence. Now, in the past month, Senegal has seen dramatic backsliding. However, all of the backsliding measures were done through legal routes, implying the takeover of stealth authoritarianism. Is this Africa’s newest anti-democratic country? Or will Senegal be able to bounce back from the measurable changes? 

Senegal’s presidential elections were going to take place on February 25, 2024, until Senegal’s current president, Macky Sall, announced a ten month delay in the election process. While Sall was in office, a new Constitution was drafted, allowing for the president to serve up to two terms, five years each, a change from the seven year term prior. Like the presidency in Bolivia under Evo Morales, Sall’s supporters argued that the constitutional change should reset his term limits. However, no official governmental claim was made, and therefore, Sall is supposed to finish his two terms this April.

Having consistent free and fair elections is one of the stables of democracy. Senegal has followed this path for years, gaining the title of one of the most stable African democracies. Now that the presidential election has been postponed with the current president keeping power six months longer than he was legally allowed to, consistent elections no longer exist. While Sall was able to postpone the election legally within the Senegalese Constitution, his claims for doing so are vague and he has made no distinct promises assuring citizens that he will give up power once the new election date in December approaches.

In the upcoming election, many candidates, including competitors of Sall’s coalition, were disqualified by Senegal’s Constitutional Council, which led the media to criticize the institution for being discriminatory. Sall’s coalition, the Benno Bokk Yakaar, was able to get their candidate qualified for the election, although Sall is rumored to believe the new Benno Bokk Yakaar candidate can’t win. With these two factors at play, Sall claimed to have postponed the election due to the instability the media and Constitutional Council have created over the dialogue of discrimination within the government, as well as many believing the election was postponed in order for Sall to find a better candidate for the Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition, possibly even himself.

After Sall announced the postponement of the election, he signed a decree finalizing this decision. The decree was then voted on by the National Assembly. However, opposition policymakers attempted to physically block the National Assembly from passing the decree. Many of them were arrested prior to the vote, which then passed with almost all votes in favor coming from policymakers in the Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition. Protesters against the decree stationed outside the assembly during the vote were attacked by the police, who used tear gas in order to diffuse the crowd. So far, two opposing coalitions have filed petitions to argue against the delay and harassment. Nonetheless, as Sall stated in his address, the postponement was first proposed by opposing parties. They were hoping to get more time to get candidates passed by the Constitutional Council. Evidently, this worked in favor of the Benno Bokk Yakaar and Sall in order to postpone the election to keep power.

Another stable of democracy is having a healthy opposition who is not held back in any way from participating in the government. When opposing parties in Senegal attempted to physically stop the vote to pass the decree from happening, which in itself is undemocratic, involving the police could have been seen as preventative measures in order to ensure the vote happens democratically. Once the police started arresting the opposing parties stopping them from voting altogether, backsliding ensued. Sall abused his power with the police in order to silence the opposition instead of using the police to stop the opposition from physically destroying the democratic process. 

Free and fair values are necessary to keep a democracy alive and healthy. Although, as supporters of Sall have pointed out, everything that Sall has done has been legal, like a stealth autocrat. He did have reasons to postpone the election, even if they were vague. He was also correct in arguing that an opposing party wanted to delay the elections first. Involving the police when people attempted to stop the democratic process through physically blocking the dias was legally acceptable. Using tear gas to disperse the crowds of protesters was also legal due to the protesters violence. Even if all of the prior claims are legal, this is still democratic backsliding, making Sall a stealth autocrat. He uses his legal power in order to intimidate the opposition and expand his own reign and power, making it seem as though Senegal is not backsliding due to all actions being done through legal pathways.

While the end of Sall’s reign may not have been very democratic, he had legal support to claim this election delay as necessary. Therefore Senegal can continue its democratic traditions as long as the presidential election proceeds in December. If somebody besides Sall takes office and continues to actively follow democratic ideals, Senegal can return to its former peaceful government. If Sall manages to stay in office past December, or makes further abuses against his own citizens in order to further his power in the upcoming months, Senegal may no longer be able to be called one of the most successful democracies in Africa.