20120303
AFP
Senegal's opposition has urged voters to strike a "killer blow" to incumbent Abdoulaye Wade's bid for a third term as president by electing his rival Macky Sall in a run-off vote this month.

The June 23 Movement (M23) urged its members, including failed presidential candidates, to "prove their patriotism and put aside their personal problems for the superior interest of Senegal" and support Sall.

"We must all mobilise together, to deliver the killer blow and put an end to this regime," said M23 co-ordinator Alioune Tine.

He said Sall, 50, who dealt a humiliating blow to the incumbent by forcing him into a run-off after Sunday's elections, was the only possibility for preventing Wade, 85, from serving a fresh mandate into his 90s.

The influential rapper-led movement "Fed Up" also signed up to the pro-Sall campaign.

"In the (wrestling) arena, when you are fighting an adversary and he is on all fours, almost on the ground, you need to finish him off. You must not give him time to recover," said one of its leaders, the rapper "Thiat".

The movement urged its members to "vote massively for Macky Sall" and thwart Wade's re-election bid.

Wade, who has spent 12 years in power, in January circumvented a two-term limit he himself introduced to seek re-election, sparking the angry protests.

He came in first with 34.85 percent of Sunday's vote while Sall trailed with 26.57 percent. They will face off in a second round most likely on March 18.

The results were a huge setback to Wade who lost a million voters compared with the 2007 election, which he won in the first round.

Analysts say he faces a tough battle to win the run-off as the opposition is fiercely united behind the goal to unseat him.

Sall, a former prime minister and Wade protege, is gathering influential support from runners-up left behind in Sunday's poll.

Homegrown music icon Youssou Ndour threw his weight behind Sall in his bid to thwart the sit-tight leader.

"The change is already there, now it is just a matter of putting it into action," Ndour told journalists in brief comments after a 45-minute meeting with Sall.

The Grammy-winning star's spokesman told journalists that "Macky Sall has already agreed to" several unspecified demands that Ndour had made as a condition for his support.

"Youssou Ndour will support Macky Sall in the second round of the election," said the spokesman, Aliou Ndiaye. "Youssou Ndour has one rallying cry, that Wade gets out," he added.

Senegal's most famous export, Ndour announced in January that he planned to run in the presidential race, only for the country's highest court to refuse his candidacy on the grounds that he had not received enough nominations.

However, the 52-year-old has remained at the forefront of opposition protests against Wade who is seeking to rule into his 90s having circumvented a two-term limit he himself introduced.

Sall welcomed Ndour's support, saying he in return has asked that the singer lift his moratorium on concerts and perform a "mega-concert" on April 4, the country's independence day.

The M23 has called a gathering on Saturday afternoon at Dakar's Obelisk Square in memory of the six people killed in a month of deadly riots leading up to the election.

Meanwhile, the government on Thursday criticized the European Union observer mission, saying it was "meddling" in the electoral process.

The mission described the first round of voting process as "adequate", but spoke out against a ban on opposition demonstrations in the centre of the capital during the campaign and against what it termed was "lack of transparency" in the handing out of voting cards.

"European Union observers have most unfortunately meddled in the electoral process," Cheikh Gueye, the minister in charge of elections said in a letter sent to observer mission chief Thys Berman which was obtained by AFP.

The minister also warned he might revoke the mission's mandate.