Ban calls for calm in Senegal

All parties to the conflict in Senegal are called on to find a peaceful way to settle their electoral grievances, the U.N. secretary-general said. An opposition movement in Senegal called for a campaign of resistance in a bid to persuade two-term President Abdoulaye Wade to end his bid for a third term in Feb. 26 elections. Senegalese law imposes a two-term limit, though a court ruled that Wade can seek a third term because the measure was adopted after his inaugural election in 2000. At least two people were killed in the Senegalese capital during demonstrations that followed the court ruling, the BBC reports. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement issued through his spokesman, said all parties to the conflict in Senegal are called on to resolve grievances through peaceful means. "He stresses the need for the authorities to act in a manner that preserves and consolidates Senegal's democratic traditions, which have laid the foundations for its long history of stability and social cohesion," the statement read. George Ajjan, a political analyst in Dakar, told the BBC that protests were unlikely to affect the political situation in Senegal. "It is unlikely that Wade will step down just because he sees some people out on the streets," he was quoted as saying. Copyright 2012 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.