Following the National Assembly’s adoption of the proposed constitutional revision, Ousmane Sonko meticulously recounted the entire process leading to this reform. He then directly attributed responsibility for the controversies surrounding the text to the head of state, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. “If there was any manipulation, it originated from the President of the Republic. He reviewed the text, selecting what suited him and discarding what did not. The Constitution does not belong to Bassirou Diomaye Faye,” Sonko asserted.
The President of the National Assembly further elaborated by citing specific provisions he accused the head of state of having removed. These included the requirement for a declaration of assets at the end of a presidential term and the prohibition for the President of the Republic from presiding over a political party. Sonko then challenged the legitimacy of such actions, questioning: “By what authority can a single individual selectively choose between provisions that suit them and those that do not? This is unacceptable,” he declared emphatically.
Indeed, Ousmane Sonko made a point of underscoring the hierarchy of powers in constitutional matters, denying the President of the Republic the status of a constituent power. “The President is not a constituent power. The derived constituent power resides with the National Assembly. The original constituent power belongs to the people when convened through a referendum,” he clarified.
