For more than three months since his appointment, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has not yet been able to present his policy address in the Senegalese National Assembly. According to a press release from the Prime Minister this Friday, this development has been delayed because of inconsistencies expressed in the internal regulations of the National Assembly.
It is through that, Ousmane Sonko said he was ready to present the policy address to the National Assembly “only once the parliamentary majority has reinstated all provisions related to the Prime Minister into the internal regulations.” He argued that the provisions were annulled in 2019 when the position of Prime Minister was abolished and have not been revised since the position was reinstated in 2021.
In the absence of an amendment to the internal regulations by parliamentarians before July 15, Ousmane Sonko has declared that he will deliver his Policy Address in front of “the sovereign Senegalese people, Senegal’s partners, and a jury especially comprising academics, intellectuals, and apolitical civic actors.”
Opposition deputies from the group Benno Bokk Yakaar—a coalition led by former President Macky Sall, holding the majority in the National Assembly—denounce Sonko’s reasoning as spurious and his acts as grotesque subterfuge. They charge that Ousmane Sonko is succeeding in challenging democratic institutions and appeal to the President of the National Assembly to assume responsibility and fix a date for the said address.
It will be in the coming weeks that people should see whether an internal regulation is changed to fit the role of a prime minister or if Sonko actually takes his policy address to a broader audience, unconventional in nature, as the country sees political tensions rise. This is just part of an unfolding situation epitomizing continuing political dynamics and challenges within Senegal’s legislative framework.