The Supreme Court of Senegal rejected an appeal on Friday by the Democratic Front for an Inclusive Election (Democratic Front) and the Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS) to halt the incoming presidential elections in March 2024. According to the court, the demands to stop the presidential elections held no substantive basis and were thus inadmissible.

PDS and the Democratic Front filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, citing their displeasure with the Constitutional Court’s decision to move the presidential elections to March and remove some contenders from the race. PDS challenged Decree 2024-690, which set the presidential election date, Decree 2024-691, which convened the electoral body and Decree 2024-704, which established the electoral campaign time for the March 24 election. PDS contended that these directives broke several electoral code requirements, notably the campaign time limit.

The Constitutional Court declared in early March that the date previously set by the National Dialogue Commission, June 2, was unconstitutional since it was after the constitutionally mandated conclusion of the presidency of the incumbent president, President Macky Sall. The court pointed out that scheduling the presidential elections after an incumbent president’s term limit would lead to a constitutional crisis. According to the court, setting a date outside the presidential term would imply that as per Article 36 of the Constitution, President Sall would essentially stay in office until his replacement was chosen.

The Supreme Court’s affirmation of the Constitutional Court’s decision to move the presidential election date to March 24 comes after parliament voted in February to postpone the elections until March. The proposal, submitted through a bill by President Sall, elicited widespread criticism and protests.