Senegalese lawmakers have reportedly given a green light to a constitutional reform that aims to scrap the post of the prime minister, the first initiative of President Macky Sall’s second term in office.
According to National Assembly president Moustapha Niasse, a total of 124 MPs voted in favor of the motion while seven MPs voted against it. 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.
The measure was approved by the government last month before it was sent to the parliament for further approval.
Justice Minister Malick Sall ensured that the constitutional changes were purely technical and administrative, reported Africa News.
“The goal is not to increase the powers of the president of the republic,” Sall told MPs.
Opposition parties have denounced the constitutional amendments claiming that the reforms will concentrate the powers in one hand.
“It’s a democratic setback,” said Toussaint Manga, who heads an opposition group founded by supporters of former president Abdoulaye Wade. “You can’t concentrate powers in the hands of one person.”
Notably, Sall, who was comfortably re-elected in February, did not announce any such plan to abolish the post of the prime minister during his re-election campaign.
It was only in early April that the President announced his plan and asked the Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, to abolish his own job. The move came in as a complete surprise.
