The people of Senegal have once again shown their resolve to preserve the sanctity of their democracy. For the second time in 11 years, the people came out en masse, braving the bullets of the security forces to truncate the unpatriotic tenure elongation ambitions of their leaders.

In 2012, the people had also trooped onto the streets to squelch former leader, 85-year-old Abdoulaye Wade’s ambition to gain a third term as president or prepare his son, Karim, from succeeding him. It is sad that Macky Sall, whom the people voted to replace Wade, also started eyeing a third term when his maximum two terms were ending.

Just as in 2012, the Senegalese people erupted in street protests, particularly when the main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, was frivolously sentenced to two years in jail over alleged “immoral acts” towards a sub-21-year-old lady. Sonko has since been cleared of the charges. Perhaps, the people’s rejection of Sall’s constitution-tinkering and the pressure piled by the West African Elders Forum, WAEF, led by Nigeria’s former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan,  piled pressure to persuade Sall to back down.

We are relieved that reason prevailed. We commend President Sall for toeing the path of caution and allowing the people’s will to prevail. By so doing, he has continued to uphold Senegal’s special place as the only country in the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, regional group that has never experienced military coup, military rule or civil war despite its history of lengthy regimes. For instance, Macky Sall is only the fourth President of Senegal after Leopold Senghor, Abdou Diouf and Abdoulaye Wade. This is unlike Nigeria which just swore in its 16th president. Both countries gained independence in 1960.

Who knows what would have happened in 2012 and 2023 if Wade and Sall had, like Cote D’Ivoire’s Alassane Ouattara, forced through their third term bids? That could have changed the course of Senegal’s history towards an unknown direction, including the possibility of military intervention. Many countries that have tasted military rule in West Africa have also witnessed civil wars, Jihadist terrorism and state failures. These include Nigeria, Cote D’Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and others.

It is now obvious that the people of Senegal cherish and jealously guard their democracy. We call on their politicians and in other countries to stop tinkering with the constitution for selfish ends. This is one of the causes of violent upheavals in Senegal and other African countries. The constitutional terms of office must be respected. Senegal is a heavily-indebted poor country with a lot of yawning, ungoverned spaces. It has so far been able to manage the separatist discomforts from the Casamance region.

Unbroken constitutional democracy is the major marker for Senegal’s stability. Politicians should not push their country’s luck to the breaking point.