Protests in Senegal turn deadly amid election crisis

A student has been confirmed as the first death in Senegal protests as clashes break out between protesters and security forces over election delay.

Senegalese security forces on Friday used tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital.

Anti-riot police kept people from trying to get to the Place de la Nation in central Dakar, where a rally had been planned.

Some demonstrators threw stones and set fire to tyres as the square was closed off, AFP news agency journalists saw.

"The situation is deplorable. We came to pray, and we got gassed. It's intolerable," Thierno Alassane Sall, one of the 20 candidates who had been due to vie for the presidency, told AFP.

Clashes spread to other areas of the capital, forcing market traders to close.

Demonstrations also took place in other towns, according to social network reports.

Police also dispersed a protest by about 200 people in Nioro du Rip, some 250 kilometres east of Dakar.

Unprecedented move

Protests were called after President Macky Sall postponed the scheduled presidential election on February 25 by 10 months.

Parliament backed the move after security forces stormed the chamber and removed some opposition deputies, sparking a fierce opposition backlash and international concern.

The crisis has called into question the West African country's reputation for democratic stability in a region beset by military coups.

European Union and the United States have called on the government to stick to the original election timetable.

Teachers were urged to walk out by education unions within the civil society platform Aar Sunu Election [Let's Protect Our Election].

At Blaise Diagne High School in Dakar, hundreds of pupils left their lessons after teachers heeded the call.

History and geography teacher Assane Sene said it was just the start of the battle.

"If the government is stubborn, we will have to try different approaches," he said.

Not Backing down

At the Masjidounnour mosque in Dakar, only a handful of worshippers followed a call to dress in white and the national colours.

"The message hasn't got through enough. But the situation in the country is deplorable; nobody's happy," 37-year-old Amadou Sy told AFP before Friday's main Muslim prayer.

In his sermon, Imam Ahmed Dame Ndiaye railed against the political situation.

"Even the president can make mistakes, and in that case, it's up to us to tell him the truth", he said, adding that "nobody has the right to watch society being destroyed".

The vote by MPs to delay the presidential election paves the way for Sall — whose second term expires in early April — to remain in office until his successor is installed, probably in 2025.

A new date for the presidential election has been set for December 15.

The opposition has condemned Sall's move as a "constitutional coup".

On Friday, 14 opposition candidates lodged an appeal against the move with the Supreme Court.

But Sall is showing no signs of backing down, said Sidy Diop, deputy editor of Le Soleil daily.

However, he added that the head of state is "in a very bad position".

If civil society and the opposition "manage to impose a balance of power unfavourable to the government and rally the international community, the president may then back down", he added.