Senegal’s constitutional revision law adopted amid opposition boycott and internal rifts

The parliamentary majority of Pastef has adopted the constitutional revision law, with 129 votes in favor. The opposition boycotted the session after one of its members, Abdou Mbow, was expelled from the chamber for refusing to leave the podium.

The government was represented by Justice Minister Moussa Sarr, who defended four government amendments. All of them were rejected by the majority deputies. Our correspondent was present at the National Assembly.

Opposition boycott

Opposition deputies accused the president of the National Assembly, Ousmane Sonko, of violating internal regulations and decided to boycott the session. They described the constitutional revision proposed by Pastef as a “forfeit.”

Aïssata Tall Sall, president of the opposition parliamentary group, said: “The objective has been achieved. It was about showing the world that what is happening at the National Assembly is dictatorship, a forfeit. We mobilized gendarmes to remove a deputy who was only exercising his right to speak. That is what we wanted to show the world. Objective achieved.”

Government versus Pastef

Justice Minister Moussa Sarr saw his four amendments rejected by Pastef deputies. They concerned what he considers a breach of balance between the president and the National Assembly, in favor of the latter.

“This revision touches on major constitutional issues and alters the balances of our regime: rationalization of the motion of censure, limitation of the right to dissolve, modalities for completing the Constitutional Court, and articulation with our fundamental status and international commitments. Indeed, expanding the possibility of filing a motion of censure to ten times during a legislature, while only providing for one dissolution for the president of the Republic during his term, amounts to breaking the traditional institutional balance.”

Rifts between Diomaye Faye and Sonko camps

Among the points of disagreement between Pastef and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is the obligation to declare assets at the beginning and end of the term. A divergence that should not exist, according to Ousmane Sonko. The president of the National Assembly recalls that these were commitments made.

“The president of the Republic took the text and kept only what suits him. The Constitution does not belong to Bassirou Diomaye Faye. To say ‘no, I will no longer declare assets at the end,’ ‘no, I want to be party president,’ while these are commitments made during a political dialogue, supported by the party… For more than ten years, we have been fighting this fight together. In the name of what can one person give themselves the right to sort and keep only what suits them?”

Ousmane Sonko asked President Bassirou Diomaye Faye to promulgate the law. For his part, the head of state wants to submit the text to a referendum.

This reform led to demonstrations by the opposition and civil society on Monday morning, not far from the National Assembly.