President Senegal Disbands Parliament

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye/PHOTO Dario Pignatelli / European Union via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dissolved the opposition-led National Assembly in an effort to ease tensions between the legislative and executive bodies.

In a national speech, Faye said a quick election would be held on November 17 this year.

"Based on the authority given to me, based on Article 87 of the Constitution, and after being lucky with the Constitutional Council on the right date, with the Prime Minister, and the President of the National Assembly, regarding benefits, I dissolved the National Assembly," he said as quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Friday, September 13.

The move was taken six months after Faye was elected through promises of change.

He said the opposition-dominated legislative body had made it difficult for him to carry out the "systemic transformation" he promised during the campaign.

He asked voters to mandate the Patriot Senegal party for Work, Ethics and Brotherhood (PASTEF).

The assembly, which will end its term of office, which will be elected in 2022, is dominated by members of the Benno Bokk Yakaar (United in Hope) coalition led by former president Macky Sall.

Tensions between executives and legislatures were reported recently after opposition lawmakers canceled a budget debate and threatened to file a motion to denounce the government.

The Benno Bokk Yakaar parliamentary group criticized the disbandment and said that the disbandment was aimed at avoiding filing a motion for condemnation of the government by the majority of parliament.

In a statement, the group accused President Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko of "manipulating institutions to serve their own political interests."

"This dissolution is a blatant attempt to silence parliamentary opposition and avoid democratic debate about state management," said Abdou Mbow, president of the majority parliamentary group.