Senegal’s President Faye dissolves Parliament, seeking reform mandate

Bassirou Diomaye Faye speaks during his inauguration ceremony in Diamniadio.
Photo: Bloomberg

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dissolved parliament in an effort to consolidate power and implement his reform agenda, Bloomberg informs.

Polls to elect new lawmakers will be held on Nov. 17, he said in a statement.

Africa’s youngest elected leader, who won a presidential vote in March by a landslide, is seeking a majority to reassure voters and investors that he can fulfill his pledges to tackle corruption, ease a cost-of-living crisis and review oil and gas contracts with Senegal’s foreign partners. He’s faced a legislative deadlock with a National Assembly dominated by lawmakers loyal to his predecessor, Macky Sall.

“I dissolve the National Assembly to ask the sovereign people for the institutional means to bring about the systemic transformation that I’ve promised them,” Faye said.

“The promise of frank cooperation from the parliamentary majority... was an illusion. They decided to turn their backs on the people, sabotaging the work of the National Assembly, thereby blocking the project for which I was elected,” Bassirou Diomaye Faye emphasized.

The disbanding came after lawmakers blocked a revision of the Constitution and tabled a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. Faye also said the opposition-dominated parliament had refused to hold a mandatory budget debate and to shut down wasteful institutions at a time when the state “urgently needs to rationalize public spending.”

Faye’s Pastef party is likely to win sufficient backing in the upcoming vote “due to the present political landscape,” said Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft. “The fragmented opposition lacks momentum and public appeal to pose a significant challenge.”

The parliamentary elections will take place as Senegal is set to become a major liquid natural gas producer, with the $4.8-billion BP Plc-operated Grand Tortue Ahmeyim field expected to come online during the final quarter of this year.

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs