Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, signed a decree on Tuesday that officially abolished the post of Prime Minister in the country.
“The President of the Republic today promulgated the constitutional law abolishing the post of Prime Minister”, a government statement read, reported Africa News.
Notably, it was President Sall who announced his plan to abolish the Prime Minister’s post in April and even asked the Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, to abolish his own job. The move came in as a complete surprise as Sall, who was comfortably re-elected in February, did not announce any such plan during his re-election campaign.
Earlier this month, Senegalese parliamentarians gave a nod to the constitutional reform which called for the abolition of the post of Prime Minister. A total of 124 MPs voted in favor of the motion while seven MPs voted against it.
The reform supporters claim the abolition of the prime minister’s position will help the president to work fulfill his campaign promises faster. These include the creation of one million jobs and the construction of more than 100,000 houses in 5 years.
But those against the reform argue that it is part of the president’s plan to wield more powers adding it is an affront to democracy in the country. They are of the view that the reforms will concentrate the powers in one hand and the President will be free to bend the rules to get what he wants.
The lawmakers also supported legislative changes that will prevent the president from dissolving the National Assembly, which in turn can no longer table a motion of no confidence against the government.
Sall, who has been in power since 2012, got 58 percent of the popular vote in the recently held election in which he faced four challengers.
