Senegal again postpones local elections

Senegal’s government said Wednesday it had again postponed local elections due to take place this month, the third such delay for polls that were initially set for 2019.

No new date was given for the vote for municipalities and local districts. The cabinet has approved the postponement and extended the mandates of those currently in office, a government statement said.

President Macky Sall launched a “national dialogue” in May 2019 in a bid to resolve an acute political crisis and the vote is not expected to occur until it is completed, though part of the opposition has boycotted the talks and an end date has not been set.

Dialogue participants are said to have agreed on an audit of the electoral list and a review of voting processes before the poll can be held, with neither having been done.

Sall’s coalition controls nearly all local councils in the West African nation.