Following the National Assembly’s adoption of the proposed constitutional revision, Ousmane Sonko detailed the entire process that led to the reform before directly blaming the head of state for the controversies surrounding the text. ‘If there was any tampering, it comes from the president of the republic. He took the text to see what suited him and what did not. The constitution does not belong to Bassirou Diomaye Faye,’ he declared.
The president of the National Assembly illustrated his remarks by citing specific provisions he accuses the president of having discarded, notably the declaration of assets at the end of the term and the prohibition for the president to lead a political party. He then questioned the legitimacy of such an approach: ‘In the name of what can a single person pick and choose between provisions that suit him and those that do not? This is unacceptable,’ he insisted.
Ousmane Sonko also took care to reaffirm the hierarchy of constitutional powers, denying the president the role of constituent power. ‘The president is not a constituent power. The derived constituent power is the National Assembly. The original constituent power is the people when they are called by referendum.’
