The decision to postpone this month’s presidential election in Senegal was against the constitution, the country’s top court has ruled.
The Constitutional Council annulled both President Macky Sall’s decree and a contentious bill passed by parliament moving the vote to December.
Widespread protests have gripped the West African country, once considered a bastion of stability in the region.
A leading opposition figure hailed the ruling as “a great day for democracy”.
“We’ve been so ashamed by all this violation of the law and the constitution,” Aminata Touré, a former prime minister and now opposition figure, told the BBC’s Newsday programme.
Anta Babacar, the only female candidate, agreed.
“We are actually very, very proud of our Constitutional Council and it shows that there is at least a little bit of democracy and justice that’s left in our country,” she said.
The priority now was to set a new election date, she added in an interview with the BBC.
On 3 February, Mr Sall announced he was pushing back the election date – originally scheduled for 25 February – because of concerns over the eligibility of opposition candidates.
His proposal was supported by 105 out of the 165 MPs after a fiery debate which saw police remove some opposition MPs from the chamber. A six-month postponement was originally proposed, but a last-minute amendment extended it to 10 months, meaning a new election date of 15 December.
Mr Sall had reiterated that he was not planning to run for office again. But his critics accused him of either trying to cling on to power or unfairly influencing whoever succeeds him.
Both the US and EU had urged Mr Sall to reconsider. Opposition candidates and lawmakers filed a number of legal challenges. (BBC)
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