The majority parliamentary group of Pastef voted in favor of the constitutional revision law, with 129 deputies supporting the proposal. The opposition, however, staged a boycott after one of its members, Abdou Mbow, was ejected from the chamber for refusing to leave the podium.

The government was represented by Minister of Justice Moussa Sarr, who presented four government amendments. All were rejected by the majority deputies. I was present at the National Assembly during the vote.

Opposition boycott

Opposition deputies accused the President of the National Assembly, Ousmane Sonko, of violating internal regulations, leading them to boycott the session. They described the constitutional revision proposed by Pastef as a “betrayal.”

Aïssata Tall Sall, head of the opposition parliamentary group, stated: “The objective has been achieved. It was about showing the world that what is happening in the National Assembly is dictatorship, a betrayal. They mobilized gendarmes to remove a deputy who was only exercising one right: the right to speak. That is what we wanted to show the world. Objective achieved.”

Government versus Pastef competition

Minister of Justice Moussa Sarr saw his four amendments rejected by Pastef deputies. They concerned what he considered an imbalance between the president and the National Assembly in favor of the latter. He explained: “This revision touches on major constitutional issues and alters the balances of our regime: rationalization of the motion of censure, limitation of the right of dissolution, modalities for completing the Constitutional Council, and articulation with our fundamental statute and international commitments. Indeed, expanding the ability to file a motion of censure to ten times during a legislature, while only allowing the president of the Republic one dissolution during his term, breaks the traditional institutional balance.”

Divisions between Diomaye Faye and Sonko camps

Among the points of disagreement between Pastef and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is the requirement for asset declarations at the start and end of a mandate. According to Ousmane Sonko, this divergence should not exist. The President of the National Assembly reminded that these were commitments made.

“The president of the Republic took the text and kept only what suited him. The Constitution does not belong to Bassirou Diomaye Faye. To come and say, ‘No, I will no longer make an asset declaration at the end,’ ‘No, I want to be the party president,’ while these are commitments made during a political dialogue, carried by the party… For more than ten years, we have been fighting this battle together. By what right can one person decide to pick and choose only what suits him?” Sonko said.

Ousmane Sonko called on President Bassirou Diomaye Faye to promulgate the law. The head of state, on the other hand, wants to submit the text to a referendum.

This reform sparked protests from the opposition and civil society on Monday morning near the National Assembly.