Mr. Ousmane Sonko’s Declaration of General Policy cannot be held in the current state of affairs. According to Ayib Daffé, the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly make no provision for it. Even so, he maintains that the Dpg is provided for in the Constitution, but not in the National Assembly’s Standing Orders. Ayib Daffé talks of falsifying the document by adding provisions that have not been revised.  

Yewwi askan wi MPs have cleared up any remaining questions about the Prime Minister’s appearance to make his General Policy Statement by July 5. In addition to closing the parliamentary session this Saturday, they have just given their position on the question that has been fuelling the political debate for the past few days: « The Prime Minister’s hearing is impossible. » Ayib Daffé, spokesman of the day for the Yewwi askan wi (Yaw) parliamentary group, clarified his coalition’s position on the Declaration of General Policy (Dpg), which under republican practice would take place 3 months after the formation of the government.

In the run-up to this deadline, the ruling parliamentary group held a press briefing to explain why the Dpg was not held. According to these Yaw members, the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly were not amended when the post of Prime Minister was restored. Consequently, they claim, « the Dpg, the question of confidence and the motion of censure are not included in the Standing Orders of the National Assembly ».

On the strength of this observation, Ayib Daffé and his followers only want the Dpg to be held if the National Assembly’s Standing Orders are amended. « The last modification of our Rules of Procedure dates back to October 2019. This modification was partly motivated by the abolition of the post of Prime Minister. The National Assembly took this into account by removing the provisions concerning the Prime Minister from its Standing Orders. The October 2019 Rules of Procedure have been falsified.  Article 3 of the 2019 Organic Law states that articles 97, 98 and 99 are repealed. Consequently, chapters 22, 23 and 24 are deleted. Since that date, no law has been passed to amend the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly. Everything to do with the Declaration of General Policy: the 3-month deadline for holding the Dpg no longer exists. The 8-day referral deadline and the motion of confidence no longer exist in our Standing Orders », explained Ayib Daffé. According to him, the National Assembly has distributed to the 14th Legislature a « falsified document serving as the Rules of Procedure ».

However, he admitted that the Dpg is indeed in the Constitution. « At present, there is no provision in the Standing Orders to specify how a Declaration of General Policy, a question of confidence and a motion of censure are to be organized and held. Of course, this is provided for in the Constitution, but as parliamentarians, we haven’t done our job of revising the Standing Orders following the restoration of the post of Prime Minister. The Dpg, the question of confidence, the motion of censure and the Prime Minister are not included in our Standing Orders. It’s a serious mistake to falsify this RI and fraudulently add provisions that don’t exist », declared Ayib Daffé. He added that Mamadou Lamine Diallo had contacted the President of the National Assembly to inform him of the situation. According to Ayib Daffé, Amadou Mame Diop had taken note, but « has done nothing to date ». According to Ayib Daffé, Guy Marius Sagna has contacted the then Prime Minister to inform him of the « impossibility of holding the Dpg ». However, Amadou Ba held his Dpg within three months of forming his government.

« No one can take advantage of his own turpitude. It is our responsibility as parliamentarians to resolve this problem. All we need to do is revise the Standing Orders to restore the post of Prime Minister, the question of confidence and the motion of censure. Hearing the Prime Minister is impossible because it is not included in our Standing Orders. We can no longer make do with lame arrangements and compromises to organize our sittings. Only the Standing Orders are authoritative », he concluded his statement.

By Malick GAYE / mgaye@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH