Even PDS, which in twelve years, managed to destroy all the foundations of an organized state, had the decency to remember that they are not vulgar activists but representatives of the People.Moreover, we must applaud the position of Mr.LamineThiam, president of the parliamentary group « Freedom, Democracy and Change », who recalled that PDS is a party of government, and that as such, it cannot fall into irresponsibility and permanent outrage.The motion of censure of the deputies of Yewwiaskanwi was inopportune in objects, light in substance, worrying in the form.Its foundations were a misunderstanding of the Constitution and the texts that govern our political life.It confirmed the propensity to prefer agitation, the permanent attention-seeking and the unwillingness to rise to the level of the great stakes of our country. Fortunately, the majority of the National Assembly opposed this new bravado of those whom SerigneSaliouDiagnerightly called « the political guerrillas ».Those who tabled the motion of censure argued that they wanted to restore the parliamentary function; to give dignity and credibility to the deputies.The function of a representative of the People certainly calls for dignity.But is it dignified to physically assault an elected representative of the Nation in the Hemicycle?Is it dignified to salute and approve of such a barbaric aggression?Is it dignified to partake into puerile activism, lies, violence, outrage without proposing anything serious?Is it dignified to refuse to contribute within the Parliament to the improvement of the efficiency of public policies, to the modernisation of democracy and to the strengthening of the rule of law?Is it dignified to block the installation of a legislature, to rip out microphones, to destroy the furniture of the National Assembly and to double down insults and toxic words in such a place which calls for sacredness?Is it dignified to be the promoter, for three months, of no serious proposal or idea but to engage in verbal and physical violence, denigration, and agitation?Is it dignified for a group of 53 parliamentarians to propose a document of unprecedented mediocrity, in form and in substance, as an explanatory statement for a motion of censure?Those who tabled the motion of censure demanded that the government accept the legitimacy of universal suffrage.To come up with such nonsense at the end of the budget marathon is another indication of the lack of seriousness of these MPs.Democracy and respect for universal suffrage is when voters can elect 83 opposition MPs.Which country in Africa can boast of such a result, which testifies to the vitality of democracy and the regularity and transparency of elections? Those who tabled the motion of censure blamed the government for the absence of a vote of confidence.It is worrying that the elected representatives who vote on the laws of the Nation show such ignorance of legal matters.They should read the Constitution and get down to work instead of resorting to constant attention-seeking.According to the Constitution, the vote of confidence is optional, and nowhere is it written that it is compulsory.This position was reiterated by MP LamineThiam on December 18 on the program Le Jury du dimanche.The promoters of the motion of censure, once again, are in the dissimulation and the dissemination of another agenda that has nothing democratic about it.I recognise at least coherence to them: their will to block the functioning of the republican institutions, by freeing themselves from any decency.In their ignorance of the texts and their lack of seriousness, those who tabled the motion of censure have invented a new role for the National Assembly.According to them, the deputies invest the Prime Minister.This ignorance of the Constitution on the part of deputies is astounding.The legitimacy of the Prime Minister lies with the President of the Republic who appoints him by virtue of the powers conferred to him by our fundamental charter.The deputies, as we must again recall, vote on laws, control the action of the Executive, and evaluate public policies.The National Assembly is a power separate from the Executive by virtue of the separation of powers, a flagship of democratic life.Voters have placed great trust in the Senegalese opposition by granting it half of the seats in Parliament, so that it can bring about qualitative change.It is a privilege and an honour to serve one’s country in such an institution and in such numbers.Yewwiaskanwi MPs should finally prove themselves worthy.By Hamidou ANNE / hamidou.anne@lequotidien.sn 

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH