Senegal votes in critical polls

DAKAR-The Associated Press

Senegalese have casted ballots yesterday in a tense election that threatens the country’s reputation as one of the oldest democracies in Africa.

The normally unflappable nation on Africa’s western coast has been rocked by protests following the decision of its 85-year-old leader to seek a third term. In doing so, President Abdoulaye Wade is violating the term limits he himself introduced into the constitution. He argues the restriction should not apply to him, since he was elected under an earlier constitution which did not have term limits.

For days before the vote, the former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, shuttled between the president and the 13 opposition candidates in an effort to find a solution. His proposal suggesting that Wade should stay for two more years was rejected by the opposition.