AU Envoy Says Political Solution Can Prevent Senegal 'Chaos'

Africa's top envoy on Saturday offered a political solution to prevent chaos in Senegal by suggesting that President Abdoulaye Wade retire after two years if he wins Sunday polls.

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said his proposal was a way to "bridge the gap" between government and the opposition as a standoff over Wade's bid for a third term led to violent protests in the country.

His suggestion was made after a week of meetings with Wade, opposition candidates and civil society and comes just hours before the nation heads to an election shrouded in uncertainty.

"We believe even though it was getting to the 11th hour, we believe that this country must be prevented from chaos, from tragedy, from disaster," Obasanjo told journalists in Dakar."

He said that as both the opposition and government held rigid positions, "we believed that we should work out a means by which we could bridge the gap between the two sides."

He said the lack of trust between the two camps could affect "if not the results of the election, the post-election life in this country."

"Even the president had indicated that if he wins the election he will consider utilizing (only) three years of the term. Then we have heard also ... that they (the opposition) will not allow anything more than one year so we said to ourselves... we should stay in the middle and take an average, we suggested in our proposal two years."

However neither side had agreed to the proposal.

Obasanjo said: "It is important for all of us that tomorrow turns out to be a peaceful and orderly election day ... if the integrity of this country is undermined it will have implications not only for the people of this country but for all of us in west Africa."