“Diomaye-Sonko, new season,” reads the front page of Tuesday, June 30, concerning the tense relations between President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. Dismissed from the premiership on May 22, Sonko secured the presidency of the National Assembly just four days later.
A new season because two blocs are now clashing over a constitutional reform: the executive and the legislative. In other words, as noted on the front page, a “clash of institutions.”
On June 29, the National Assembly — where the party of the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Pastef), chaired by Ousmane Sonko, holds 130 of the 165 seats — adopted a proposal for a constitutional revision. However, at the start of the review, the Minister of Justice, Me Moussa Sarr, announced that its adoption would be submitted to an upcoming referendum.
Transformation of the institutional architecture
The text divides opinion. The government’s four proposed amendments were rejected by the law commission. The review preceding the June 29 vote took place in a turbulent atmosphere, as noted: “In a sign of protest, opposition deputies walked out of the chamber.”
“This reform, driven by the majority from the
