Senegal: Religious Leaders Call for Calm Ahead of Elections
February 26, 2007
Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
February 26, 2007
Posted to the web February 26, 2007
Dakar
Catholic and Muslim leaders have appealed for calm and respect for the rules of democracy ahead of the country’s presidential elections scheduled for February 25.
Archbishop Théodore-Adrien Sarr, of Dakar, urged opposition parties to cancel a demonstration for which the authorities had refused permission.
The Archbishop’s intervention was decisive in convincing the opposition parties to cancel their unauthorised demonstration planned for February 2, local church sources told Fides news agency. "This helped to avoid a potential occasion for clashes between demonstrators and the police", it was reported.
Candidates were urged to help ensure a peaceful campaign, by Muslim leader El hadj Moustapha Cissé, coordinator of the Senegal Centre for Religious Intellectuals for Peace and Harmony CCRIPC.
Their calls came after a series of incidents provoked by supporters of certain presidential candidates, in which several people were injured.
Incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade, 80 is also seeking re-election.
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