This article was originally published by the Atlantic Council.
While a number of African rulers—most notably Joseph Kabila of the
rather ironically named Democratic Republic of the Congo whose
ham-fisted attempts to prolong his presidency threaten to reignite the
continent’s most bloody conflict—have been trying to extend their
tenures by all possible means, fair or foul, voters in Senegal were
asked in a March 20 referendum to not only reaffirm the two-term limit
on the presidency, but also cut the length of terms themselves down to
five years from the current seven years. Altogether, the fifteen
constitutional amendments approved by nearly two-thirds of the citizens
who took part in the plebiscite consolidate the already significant
progress made by the West African country in terms of democratic
governance and make it something of a model for the region. Both the
length of presidential mandates and the limits to them have been the
source of not inconsiderable controversy in Senegalese politics. ...
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