Senegal opposition vows to stop Wade presidential bid

DAKAR (AFP) - Senegal's opposition vowed Saturday to force President Abdoulaye Wade out of office as the capital reeled from riots that erupted after the top court said the octogenarian could run for a third term.

Local rights bodies and the international community called for calm as the opposition vowed to march on the presidential palace in downtown Dakar "and remove Wade who is squatting there."

The United States warned that the court ruling had "the potential to jeopardise a lot of the achievements" in a nation known for its vibrant democracy.

Riot police cordoned off streets around the presidency after the opposition threatened to march on the palace following a night of what local newspapers dubbed "fire and blood" in which rioters killed one policeman.

The streets in flashpoint suburbs were littered with still-smouldering debris after rioters engaged in running battles with police, overturning and torching cars, setting alight tyres and shops along the city's main arteries.

In the working-class suburb of Colobane where a mass opposition gathering turned violent, Chinese immigrants surveyed the remnants of several of their shops torched in the riots.

The violence erupted late Friday after the west African nation's Constitutional Council gave Wade, 85, the green light to run in February 26 polls, infuriating opponents who accuse him of fiddling with the constitution.

"Wade Rejoices, the Country Burns," read the headline of the Walfadjiri newspaper while the daily Le Quotidien declared: "Wade Burns Senegal."

Interior Minister Ousmane Ngom said in a statement that police were investigating the death of policeman Fode Ndiaye, who was "hit on the head by a brick."

He said police had "intervened to re-establish order" after being attacked by projectile-throwing protesters.

Wade dismissed the protest as "temper tantrums" on the part of the opposition.

Abdoul Aziz Diop, spokesman of the June 23 Movement (M23) of opposition against Wade's candidacy, said the M23 leaders "deliberated all night on the best way to organise a response" such as more protests.

"If Wade's candidacy is maintained there will not be an election," he warned, adding that no M23 candidate would participate in a poll whose results would be "prefabricated from the first round."

Abdoulaye Wilane, a leader of the opposition Socialist Party, told AFP there would be a "legal and political battle" to ensure that Wade leaves power.

Presidential spokesman Serigne Mbacke Ndiaye said on French radio that Wade's camp would also challenge several opposition candidacies.

"Of 12 million inhabitants there were 200, 300 even 1,000, 2,000 people protesting the Constitutional Council decision, really that is not a concern."

The five-judge council unveiled a list of 14 contenders but rejected the candidacy of music icon Youssou Ndour, who warned of rising tension in the country and vowed to challenge his disqualification.

Ndour, who shocked the music world when he announced this month he was quitting singing for politics, was left off the list with the council saying many signatures he provided could not be verified. A minimum of 10,000 were needed.

The ruling seals months of speculation over the interpretation of the constitution on presidential mandates.

When Wade was elected in 2000 for a seven-year mandate there was no term-limit in the constitution.

In 2001 he revised the laws instituting the two-term limit and reducing the mandate to five years. He was re-elected on this basis in 2007.

Then he again revised the text in 2008, reverting to a seven-year mandate, renewable once.

Wade argues that the law does not apply retroactively and that he is thus due two seven-year terms from 2012.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington on Friday that Wade had "supported a constitution with two terms, and we want to see him be a leader in paving the way for a new generation of African leaders and solidifying his own stature as a democrat in this way."

A joint declaration by Senegalese rights bodies and Amnesty International expressed their "deep concern and fear over the current tension."

The statement called for calm and political dialogue "to allow a return to serenity and free, fair and peaceful elections."