Senegal Revised Constitution: Opposition Mps reject proposed dissolution bid, block revision of Constitution

On Monday, the Senegal Revised Constitution has been rejected by lawmakers, expressing their opposition to the new constitution put forward by the country’s new administration.

83 Mps voted to maintain two consultative bodies whose future hung in the balance, 80 voted to dissolve the bodies.

The ruling coalition doesn’t hold the majority in parliament.

Also Read: Chaos in Uganda as police shoot Bobi Wine

Takeaways in the Senegal Revised Constitution

The revision outlined the dissolution of the High Council of regional governments and the Economic, Social and Environmental Council. It was a key campaign pledge by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.

The bodies have been criticized for being too costly. About $24 million USD are allocated to them.

The president said the vote showed the deep divide between the opposition coalition and the aspirations of the Senegalese people.

The lawmakers of former president Macky Sall have announced they’ll lodge a vote of no-confidence against the government of Ousmane Sonko.

The president could also choose to dissolve the assembly or hold a referendum.

Who is Ousmane Sonko

Going by details obtained from Wikipedia by Africa Parrot, Sonko was the PASTEF candidate in the 2019 presidential election, ultimately placing third.

A major figure in the Senegalese opposition against former president Macky Sall, his arrest and subsequent investigation by authorities in 2019 following sexual assault accusations triggered mass protests and rioting across Senegal.
In June 2023, he was sentenced to two years in prison, and in July 2023, his party PASTEF was dissolved by the Senegalese government.
Following the victory of his protégé, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in the 2024 Senegalese presidential election, Sonko was appointed as Prime Minister of Senegal shortly after Faye’s inauguration as president on 2 April 2024.
Sonko formally presented his government on 5 April, which he described as a “breakaway” government symbolising “a systemic transformation voted for by the Senegalese people”.