Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade has dropped some of his planned constitutional changes, officials say.<\/p>\n
He no longer wants to reduce the proportion of votes needed to win a presidential election, and avoid a run-off, from more than 50% to 25%.<\/p>\n
As MPs met in the capital, Dakar, to discuss the planned amendments, riot police used tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators outside.<\/p>\n
The bill also creates the elected position of a vice-president.<\/p>\n
Government spokesmen Serigne Mbacke Ndiaye said Mr Wade had abandoned the idea of reducing the threshold to win a presidential election to 25%, Reuters news agency reports.<\/p>\n
According to the AFP news agency, Justice Minister Cheikh Tidiane Sy informed MPs about the decision.<\/p>\n
Clouds of tear gas hovered over the square in front of the National Assembly, where lawmakers had gathered on Thursday, AP news agency reports.<\/p>\n
Critics had said the run-off amendments were designed to ensure that Mr Wade, 85, was re-elected next year.<\/p>\n
Mr Wade first came to power in democratic polls more than a decade ago but he is now facing growing anger at daily electricity cuts and the rising cost of living.<\/p>\n
BBC West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says many people also fear that Mr Wade intends to give the role of vice-president to his son Karim, who is already a powerful minister in the current administration.<\/p>\n
They say Mr Wade could then step down and hand power to his son.<\/p>\n
The governments says the proposed new post is aimed at reinforcing democracy by sharing power between the president and vice-president.<\/p>\n
Riot police also clashed with protesters earlier this week, while world-famous Senegalese singer Youssou Ndour urged the government to “see sense”.<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Go here to see the original: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade has dropped some of his planned constitutional changes, officials say. He no longer wants to reduce the proportion of votes needed to win a presidential election, and avoid a run-off, from more than 50% to 25%. As MPs met in the capital, Dakar, to discuss the planned amendments, riot police used tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators outside<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":418014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-446246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n
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