The Constitutional Council of Senegal has just delivered its judgment as follows:

1. Macky Sall’s decision to defer the elections to the 25th of February is unconstitutional.

2. The parliamentary commission is also unlawful.

19. Considering that in view of the spirit and letter of the Constitution and the organic law relating to the Constitutional Council, the Constitutional Council must always be able to exercise its regulatory power and fulfil its tasks in the name of the general interest, public order, peace, the stability of institutions and the principle of the necessary continuity of their operation;

20. Considering that the Constitutional Council, noting the impossibility of organising the presidential election on the initially scheduled date, invites the competent authorities to hold it as soon as possible;

This means that the election could be held later than 25 February but not as Mackay Sall’s proposed date of 15 December.