SENEGAL’S parliament voted on Monday to delay the West African nation’s presidential election until December 15.

The decision was reached after opposition lawmakers were forcefully removed from the chamber as they debated President Macky Sall’s earlier decision to delay the crucial election.

Security forces stormed the legislative building and forcefully removed several opposition lawmakers who were trying to block the voting process on the unprecedented delay of the presidential election, initially scheduled for February 25. 

The adopted Bill extends President Sall’s tenure — which was due to end on April 2 — until a new election.

The Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital Economy said that mobile internet services were cut on Monday amid growing protests “due to the dissemination of several hateful and subversive messages relayed on social networks in the context of threats and disturbances to public order.”

As the lawmakers debated the Bill, security forces fired tear gas at protesters gathered outside the legislative building in Dakar.

Guy Marius Sagna, an activist and opposition lawmaker who was among the protesters, said: “We will not accept a constitutional coup in this country. It is up to the people to come out and liberate themselves.”

President Sall called a halt to the election citing an electoral dispute between the parliament and the judiciary but critics rejected the move, calling it a “coup.”