Wade govt says it will only allow peaceful protests
The Senegalese government has said on Tuesday it would only allow opposition street demonstration, if it is peaceful but warned that it won’t condone violence.
In an interview with West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR) this afternoon, Senegal’s Minister of State and government Spokesman, Amadou Sall said on Tuesday afternoon, President Abdoulaye Wade believes that the people have the right to demonstrate in a peaceful manner, because Senegal is a democracy.
But Minister Sall said that the government would not tolerate any resort to violent protests.
The opposition is poised to stage a protest in the capital, Dakar Tuesday afternoon to further resist the third term candidacy of the 85-year-old Senegalese leader, who was cleared by the country's Constitutional Court last weekend to contest the February 26 election.
The Senegalese Minister claimed that the M23 opposition coalition plans to take the law into their own hands by marching on the State House/presidential palace this afternoon to demand that President Wade steps down.
“The opposition has decided for this afternoon to make a very violent demonstration. For them it’s the final assault, because they say they will walk on the presidency to put the president out of office. It is unacceptable in a democracy,” Sall told WADR on Tuesday afternoon.
But the Senegalese official warned that this would not be tolerated.
He said in a democracy, such action amounts to insurrection.
Since Senegal’s constitutional court announced the legality of incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade to run for a third term, over the weekend, the country has been under high tension with violence reported in many parts of the country.
A coalition of opposition parties and civil society groups named M-23 Movement is calling for a nationwide strike on Tuesday to force President Wade to relinquish power, claiming that the five-men constitutional court was corrupted by the government.
WADR’s Elisabeth-Laure Njipwo has been speaking with opposition leader Abdoulaye Bathily, a member of the M-23 Movement.
Click audio below to listen
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