- At least 15 political parties have officialised their intentions to contest in Senegal’s 3 June legislative polls by forwarding their lists of candidates to the Interior Ministry which has three days to approve or disapprove them.
Already the polls have become sour by the confirmed boycott of the main opposition parties, including those of the key contenders of President Abdoulaye Wade in the 25 February polls.
Officials of Mr Idrissa Seck’s Rewmi, Pari Socialiste and AFP, said their boycott was necessitated by President Wade’s alleged rigging of the polls, although they were declared free, fair and transparent by the international observers and authenticated by the constitutional court in Senegal.
The boycotting opposition parties control more than 40 percent of the votes in the last Presidential polls, which is why the boycott is expected to discredit the legislative polls.
The angry opposition parties said they can take part in the 3 June polls only if the electoral roll has been cleansed and the replacement of the autonomous electoral commission by an independent national electoral commission because the former allowed voting process to be rigged in favour of the ruling Parti Democratic Senegalaise (PDS) of Mr Wade.
Opposition leaders have also asked President Wade to sack the Interior Minister, Ousmane Ngom, whose office organised the last elections. Their other demands had to do with the cancellation of the demarcation of the constituencies, which they alleged, was done to favour PDS.
President Wade turned a deaf ear to the opposition complaints. His party is expected to continue its winning spree during the 3 June legislative polls.
Senegal postponed the legislative polls which was should have taken place side by side with the 25 February Presidential polls. It was first postponed in 2005 following a massive destruction by flood in the country.
At the time, President Wade argued that instead of organising elections, his government opted to raise funds for the flood victims whose compounds had been invaded by waters.
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