Parties to boycott Senegal’s legislative poll
May 28, 2007
Dakar - Campaigning began on Sunday for Senegal’s upcoming legislative
election in a vote expected to be anticlimactic because main opposition
groups have pledged to boycott.
About 15 parties have announced plans to boycott the election over
President Abdoulaye Wade’s refusal to change the electoral process.
Opposition leaders have called for the voter list to be revised and the
creation of an independent structure to replace the
government-appointed electoral commission.
There is also a risk that the June 3 election will be postponed since
the Socialist Party, part of the opposition, has filed a complaint with
the State Council that could lead to their delay.
More than 4 000 candidates will vie for 150 seats, said Macoumba Koume, an official with the electoral commission.
On Sunday evening, messages from candidates from 14 parties and coalitions competing in the election were to be broadcast.
Among those who have said they would take part in the boycott are
Idrissa Seck, Ousmane Tanor Dieng and Moustapha Niasse, who came
second, third and fourth respectively in February’s presidential
elections, which Wade won with 55.9 percent of the vote. - Sapa-AFP
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