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Senegal

https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/

October 2024

Senegal authorises wearing of religious symbols in schools

On 8 October, Senegal’s Ministry of Education published a decree requiring all schools to allow students to wear religious symbols within the school premises, in the classroom and during educational activities. The decree follows recent comments made by the country’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, in which he appeared to criticise Catholic schools that did not allow students to wear the veil. While Catholic schools in Senegal (a constitutionally secular country) do not explicitly ban the veil, there have been occasions where veiled students have been prevented from attending class at such institutions and it is a highly contentious issue. There are over 300 Catholic schools in Senegal which, despite their religious affiliation, are attended by students from the Muslim majority.

Sources: Jeune Afrique, The Conversation, La Croix International, U.S. State Department

March 2024

Legislature approves amnesty covering preceding three years

On 6 March, the National Assembly of Senegal passed a law that provides a general amnesty for acts committed during protests and political events during the preceding three years. This law was approved in a tumultuous context that included the cancellation and rescheduling of the presidential election – a contest in which potential candidates had faced legal proceedings. The law benefits some opposition politicians, including the eventual winner of the presidential election, Bassirou Diomaye Faye and former leader of the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l’éthique et la fraternité, PASTEF), Ousmane Sonko. However, the law also protects government officials involved in the deaths of protestors. Human rights advocates have criticised the law for providing impunity to those who were involved in the deaths of protestors. The law was promulgated on 13 March, and on 14 March Sonko and Faye were released from prison – 10 days before the election.

Sources: Jeune Afrique (1), Jeune Afrique (2), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch

Bassirou Diomaye Faye wins presidential election
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Senegal’s presidential election (originally scheduled for 25 February) was held on 24 March. Bassirou Diomaye Faye of the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l’éthique et la fraternité, PASTEF) won the election in the first round, receiving 54.3 per cent of the valid votes. Amadou Ba of the ruling party Alliance for the Republic (Alliance pour la république, APR) came in second with 35.8 per cent of the vote. There was a total of 19 candidates for the office of president, only one of whom (Anta Babacar Ngom) is a woman. Turnout was 61.3 per cent of the registered voters, down from 66.3 per cent in 2019. International observers from the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) both delivered positive assessments of the electoral process, at least in its final stages. However, the EU report noted that access to information during the electoral campaign was impeded by several temporary shut-downs of the mobile Internet networks.

Sources: Agence de Presse Sénégalaise, Le Quotidien, Jeune Afrique, African Union, European Union

February 2024

Controversy over election date, Constitutional Council rules it must go forward

On 3 February, President Macky Sall announced that the elections planned for 25 February would not take place. On 6 February, after chaotic scenes in the National Assembly during which opposition lawmakers were forcibly removed from the chamber, the legislature passed a law setting a new election date of 15 December. This postponement of the electoral process followed many months of controversy over the eligibility of several leading politicians in Senegal to run for the office of president. The Constitutional Council had released the list of eligible candidates on 21 January, excluding both Ousmane Sonko (due to criminal convictions) and Karim Wade (due to allegations that he holds French citizenship). However, opposition parties filed legal challenges to the postponement of the election, and on 15 February, the Constitutional Council ruled that the delay in holding the election was unconstitutional, and that the election should take place as soon as possible. On 16 February, President Sall pledged to implement the Constitutional Council’s ruling ‘without delay.’

Sources: Le Monde, Africa News, Al Jazeera, Le Soleil

July 2023

President Macky Sall announces he will not run for a third term

President Macky Sall announced in July 2023 that he will not seek a third term in office. He had publicly entertained the possibility of running again in 2024, claiming that the revision of the constitution in 2016 had effectively reset presidential term limits. While Sall’s claims regarding the legality of a third term were never settled by a court, leaders including the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the Secretary General of the United Nations described Sall’s decision not to seek a third term as a positive example in the region.

Sources: Le Monde, Nation Africa, British Broadcasting Corporation

Opposition politician and prominent journalist arrested
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Following his earlier convictions on charges of defamation (May) and corruption of youth (June), opposition politician Ousmane Sonko was arrested and faced further criminal charges at the end of July. Sonko was charged with nine serious offences, including plotting an insurrection and criminal association with terrorists. Sonko has been a frontrunning candidate for the 2024 presidential election, but his past convictions may disqualify him.

Following the latest charges against Sonko, the political party he leads, Patriots of Senegal (PASTEF), was legally dissolved through a decree issued by the Interior Minister.

The day after Sonko’s latest arrest, prominent journalist Papé Alé Niang was also arrested and charged with calling for insurrection. Niang had posted a video on social media discussing Sonko’s case.

Both Sonko and Niang began hunger strikes soon after being arrested.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Reuters, Le Monde, Committee to Protect Journalists, Amnesty International

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Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2023

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Representation
67/173
Rights
83/173
Rule of Law
70/173
Participation
24/173

Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
17 763 163
System of government
Presidential system
Head of government
Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko (since 2024)
Head of government party
African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF)
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
Parallel
Women in lower or single chamber
46.1%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2022
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
2.65
Head of state
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye
Selection process for head of state
Direct election (two-round majority)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
05/11/2018
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
89.11%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
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International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
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Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
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Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
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Convention on the Rights of the Child
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International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
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International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
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International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
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International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
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Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
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Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
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Equal Remuneration Convention
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Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
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Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
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Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
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Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
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Regional Treaties
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
State Party
in
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Performance by category over the last 6 months

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Representation neutral Rule of law
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Representation neutral Participation
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Global State of Democracy Indices

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Explore the indices
Representation
Representation
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/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
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high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

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