Violence has spread in Senegal after the president announced the postponement of elections scheduled for later this month.
Senegal's decision to postpone elections this month violates the country's constitution, the country's highest court has ruled.
The Constitutional Court invalidated President Macky Sall's decree and a controversial bill passed by parliament, postponing the vote to December.
Widespread protests have gripped the West African country, once considered a bastion of democracy in the region.
Opposition officials said this amounted to an “organized coup.”
Sall had announced that the election would be postponed, citing concerns over the qualifications of opposition candidates.
His proposal was supported by 105 out of 165 MPs. A six-month delay was originally proposed, but a last-minute amendment extended it to 10 months, or until December 15th.
Sall reiterated that he has no intention of running again. But his critics accused him of trying to cling to power or try to unduly influence his successor.
Opposition candidates and lawmakers who have filed numerous legal challenges to the bill will feel vindicated by Thursday night's court ruling.
Khalifa Sall, a prominent opposition figure and former mayor of the capital Dakar who is unrelated to the president, called the postponement an “unconstitutional coup,” while another unrelated candidate, Tierno Alassane Sall, called it “high treason.” It was called “sin.” .
The court said it was “impossible” to hold the elections on February 25, the originally scheduled date (just 10 days later), but urged authorities to hold them “as soon as possible”.
Most candidates have not campaigned since President Sall issued his Feb. 3 executive order hours before campaigning began.
The court's decision came on the same day that several opposition politicians and civil society members were released from prison, and some in the country saw it as a move to appease public opinion.
Senegal has long been considered one of the most stable democracies in the region. It is the only country in mainland West Africa that has never experienced a military coup. There have been three mostly peaceful transfers of power, and presidential elections had never been postponed until earlier this month.
President Sall has been in power since 2012, and his second term is scheduled to end in April this year.
President Sall was accused by critics of trying to cling to power.
