SENEGAL’SPRESIDENT FAYE DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT

Just barely six months in office, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced the dissolution of the Senegalese National Assembly and called for elections on 17th November 2024. Coming into power on a radical transformation of the political system and promises of more sovereignty, the 44-year-old president believes lawmakers from his party can win a majority in the legislature.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the 44-year-old, and also the youngest elected president in  Africa, came to power in March, less than two weeks after he was released from prison. During the presidential campaign, he promised widespread restructuring to improve the living standards of the people of  Senegal.

Faye in a press brief on Thursday said, he dissolve the national assembly to ask the sovereign people for the institutional means to bring about the systemic transformation that I have promised to deliver. He called for support and asked voters to mandate his party to carry out governmental changes.

The Benno Bokk Yaakar opposition movement, led by former President Macky Sall, condemned Faye’s decision to dissolve Senegal’s National Assembly. He claimed Faye had convened a legislative session under false pretences then proceeded to dissolve the governmental body. Faye was also accused by his political rivals of “perjury.”

Faye, the youngest elected president on the African continent, came to power in March, less than two weeks after he was released from prison. During the presidential campaign, he promised widespread reforms to improve the living standards of the Senegalese people, including fighting corruption, reviewing fishing permits for foreign companies, and securing a bigger share of the country’s natural resources for the state and the population.