“Diomaye-Sonko, new season” reads the front page headline on Tuesday, June 30, capturing the strained relations between president Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his former prime minister Ousmane Sonko. Dismissed from the premiership on May 22, Sonko seized the presidency of the National Assembly four days later.
A new season indeed, as two blocs now confront each other over a constitutional reform: the executive and the legislative. This is what is being called a “clash of institutions.”
On June 29, the National Assembly — where Sonko’s party, the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics, and Fraternity (Pastef), holds 130 of the 165 seats — adopted a proposal for constitutional revision. However, just before the debate began, Justice Minister Me Moussa Sarr announced that the adoption would be submitted to a future referendum.
Transformation of the institutional architecture
The text divides opinion. The government’s four proposed amendments were rejected by the law committee. The session preceding the June 29 vote took place in a tense atmosphere, as opposition deputies walked out of the chamber in protest. The reform, driven by the majority born from the ballot box, is seen as a major overhaul of Senegal’s political framework.
