President Macky Sall: to finish 7-year term before new rule takes effect

Senegalese voters have backed constitutional reforms shortening presidential terms with 62 per cent of the vote, the electoral commission announced on Wednesday.

It noted that the turnout in Sunday’s referendum was 40 per cent.

“The reforms will see the maximum period for a president in office reduced from seven to five years’’, it stressed.

The new rules, proposed by President Macky Sall, were also due to impose an upper age limit of 75 on candidates campaigning for the top office.

Sall argued that the reforms would bring the West African nation in line with international norms and strengthen democracy.

However, the 54-year old Sall plans to see out his seven years in office until 2019.