Pastef-Les Patriotes has denounced the refusal of the Ministry for the Interior and the Cena (National Autonomous Electoral Commission) to initiate the electoral process for the local government elections. The party said President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s failure to set the election date constitutes a flagrant violation of the electoral code.
Pastef warned against a return to the “political demons of the past” that led to loss of life during previous election postponements. According to the party, the Minister for the Interior and Cena have rejected its requests, opening a legal and political battle whose ramifications could extend beyond the electoral calendar alone.
The dispute centres on a specific point: must the decree setting the date for the departmental and municipal elections be published within a set timeframe, or do the authorities have some flexibility? For Pastef, the Electoral Code imposes mandatory deadlines, and the president’s silence constitutes a violation of the law.
In its press release, Pastef-Les Patriotes stated that it has submitted administrative requests to the Ministry for the Interior and Cena to initiate the electoral process. According to the party, both institutions responded negatively, hiding behind a misinterpretation of Articles L236 and L269 of the Electoral Code. The party believes that the minister is attempting “clumsily” to justify the president’s inaction by invoking Paragraph 3 of these articles, which stipulates that “when circumstances so require, elections may not be held within the thirty days preceding the expiration of the fifth year of the term of office.”
The interior minister cited a Supreme Court ruling to justify the lack of a mandatory deadline for the decree setting the date for the election which is scheduled to be held next year.