Lawmakers are set to debate a bill in parliament that would reschedule the election for August 25 and extend President Macky Sall's mandate until his successor is installed.
Senegal has never postponed a presidential election, and Sall's announcement on Saturday pitched the West African nation into uncharted constitutional waters that threaten to further tarnish its reputation has a bastion of democratic stability in a region swept by coups.
The African Union on Monday joined a chorus of calls from regional bodies and Western governments for a new election date to be set as soon as possible.
Outside parliament, armored police fired tear gas to disperse around 100 people who had gathered to protest. They also made arrests, Reuters reporters said.
A widespread public outcry over the postponement has raised concerns the country will face violent protests like those that have intermittently broken out over concerns Sall would run for a third term and the alleged political sidelining of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
Senegalese police officers stand in formation on a road blocked with burning barricades during demonstrations called by the opposition parties in Dakar on February 4, 2024.
Sall said he delayed the election due to a dispute over the candidate list and alleged corruption within the constitutional body that handled the list.
Several prominent opposition figures, including Sonko, were barred from running for president, stoking discontent about the election process.
But there has been strong pushback against the delay, which some opposition and civil society groups have called an "institutional coup." Some contenders have said they would still push ahead with campaigns meant to kick off over the weekend.
Senegalese presidential candidate Malick Gackou on Monday filed a formal legal request against the postponement of the February 25 election, a Constitutional Council document showed.
At least two female presidential candidates were detained when police in riot gear broke up protests in the capital Dakar on Sunday.
Speaking to VOA, Mimi Touri, one of the candidates who was briefly detained, described the president's move as "unacceptable."
"Unfortunately, all of this is putting our country in instability because people will not accept democracy going backward the way it did," Touri said. "Macky Sall should organize election as decided by the Constitution on the 25th of February, and that’s all that we are asking for."
"So now, despite the fact that myself, I have been removed from the process, illegally, I'm the one saying let’s press on because the decision of the Constitutional Court is supposed to be definitive," she added.
The authorities also took local television channel Walf off air on Sunday and revoked its license, Walf said in a statement.
Senegal's sovereign dollar bonds fell on Monday, with its 2023 bond dropping to its lowest level in more than two months, according to Tradeweb data.
Barclays warned against downplaying the risk of clashes between the opposition and security forces and said the election delay could lead to further democratic backsliding.
"Such a postponement could open the door for subsequent postponements and allow the president to do many things," it said in a note.
This report came from Reuters. VOA's Peter Clottey contributed.