“Diomaye-Sonko, new season,” captures the current tensions between President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his former prime minister Ousmane Sonko. Sonko was dismissed from the premiership on May 22 but won the speaker’s seat at the National Assembly just four days later.

This new season sees two blocs now confronting each other over a constitutional reform: the executive and the legislature. It is an “institutional clash,” as described by observers.

On June 29, the National Assembly — where Sonko’s Pastef party holds 130 of 165 seats — adopted a constitutional revision proposal. However, ahead of the review, Justice Minister Me Moussa Sarr stated that its adoption would be submitted to an upcoming referendum.

Transformation of the institutional architecture

The text divides opinion. The government’s four proposed amendments were rejected by the law committee. The examination prior to the June 29 vote took place in a heated atmosphere: opposition deputies walked out of the chamber in protest.

“This reform, driven by the majority from the Pastef party, aims to reshape the country’s institutional framework and will now be put to a national vote.”