Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has been in power for more than a
decade - something protesters are not happy about.
Dakar - Senegal banned political rallies in the centre of the capital
Dakar on Thursday, two days before a planned protest against President
Abdoulaye Wade seeking a new term in 2012 elections.
The move forced organisers of the march to reschedule it to a location
outside the centre of town, where they had been planning to
demonstrate close to Wade's presidential palace.
A pro-Wade rally is due to take place in a separate suburb of the
sprawling coastal capital.
The Interior Ministry said the ban was needed on grounds of security.
It comes days after Wade vowed that authorities would deal firmly with
any repeat of protests last month which raised fears of unrest in the
usually peaceful West African state.
"It shows attitudes in the government are hardening towards anti-
government protests," said one Dakar-based diplomat.
Wade, 85, has said he will stand for another seven-year term despite
widespread concerns over his age and assertions by opponents that he
is constitutionally barred from a third term.
Wade backed down on planned reforms to electoral rules, including a
clause giving victory to any candidate with over 25 percent of the
vote, after June 23 street protests that sparked violent clashes
between police and rioters in Dakar.
While the protest movement is not on the scale of the Arab Spring
uprisings that ousted rulers in Tunisia and Egypt, its success last
month has emboldened Wade's opponents.
"For the sake of calming the political situation and avoiding violence
we have agreed to change the venue of our demonstration," Alioune Tine
of rights group RADDHO said after march organisers met to discuss
their response to the ban.
Wade's supporters say they aim to muster 500 000 people for their
march, outnumbering the protesters.
Senegal's Constitutional Council has until January to rule on whether
Wade has the right to bid for a new term.
Analysts see little chance of Senegal falling prey to the same kind of
entrenched civil conflict which hit Ivory Coast after a disputed
election, but fear its usual calm could be disrupted.
"If the Council validates his candidacy, it is clear that Senegal will
be in for some trouble, there will be some very violent
demonstrations," said Mamadou Diouf, a Senegalese national who is
professor of African studies at Columbia University in New York. -
Reuters
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