In a televised address to the Senegalese nation on Thursday, September 12, 2024 at 8 p.m. UT, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced the dissolution of the National Assembly, under Article 87 of the Constitution. Senegalese people are called to the polls on Sunday, November 17, 2024 for early legislative elections.
This Thursday, September 12, 2024, Bassirou Diomaye Faye addressed the Senegalese nation as planned. For 7 minutes, the President of the Republic, elected in the first round in the presidential election of March 24, spoke about the delicate political situation in which he finds himself, with a Parliament dominated by the opposition, starting with the camp of his predecessor, Macky Sall.
The current head of state of Senegal has therefore decided. According to the rules of the Constitutional Council, Bassirou Diomaye Faye had to wait two years of legislature to be able to dissolve the National Assembly. This milestone was reached on September 12; the President of the Republic announced this dissolution.
« The time has come to open a new temporality »
In his message, Bassirou Diomaye Faye first accused the parliamentary majority of ” rowing against the will of the Senegalese people ” According to him, the blockages of the last few days in the Assembly have convinced him that ” the pledge of frank collaboration with the parliamentary majority (…) was an illusion. The latter having decided to turn away from the people to promote the cult of blockage, and thus hinder the implementation of the project on the basis of which I was elected. »
Under Article 87 of the Constitution, and after consulting the Constitutional Council, the Prime Minister and the President of the National Assembly, the Senegalese President has made his choice: ” I am dissolving the National Assembly to ask the sovereign people for the institutional means that will allow me to give substance to the systemic transformation that I promised them. Today, more than ever, the time has come to open a new temporality to our five-year term. »
This announcement of dissolution is not a surprise, reports our correspondent in Dakar, Léa-Lisa WesterhoffFor weeks now, this possibility has occupied the Senegalese political scene, as the rupture between the new government and the opposition has been confirmed over the last five months, causing a real legislative paralysis.
In his speech, the Head of State Bassirou Diomaye Faye did not fail to give some examples. Like this budget orientation debate, cancelled at the end of June, after the boycott by the deputies of the coalition of the former president Macky Sall. Same scenario last week, for the proposal to abolish the High Council of Local Authorities and the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, rejected en bloc by the opposition deputies.
Reactions were quick to come, such as that of Seydou Gueye, spokesperson for the Alliance for the Republic, the party of former President Macky Sall, who denounced a ” very ridiculous strategy ” from President Faye for ” protect soldier Sonko “, and assures that ” Two days ago, the Assembly unanimously voted on the laws proposed by the President of the Republic. »
The President of the Republic can be accused of having broken his word.
With this announcement, a new sequence is therefore opening at a brisk pace. There are now just over two months to organize legislative elections and convince the Senegalese to vote once again for the break that the camp of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye wants to embody.
By RFI
2024-09-13 10:51:07