The Front for the Defense of the Republic (FDR) issued a statement this Wednesday, demanding the removal of Ousmane Sonko from the National Assembly. Led by figures such as Khalifa Sall, the coalition asserts his continued presence is both “illegal and illegitimate.”
In a document endorsed by its Conference of Leaders, the FDR first commended the widespread mobilization of 147 political parties and movements. These groups had collectively signed a declaration on May 24, denouncing what the FDR termed an “attempted parliamentary coup d’état” by PASTEF. The coalition also expressed satisfaction with the opposition deputies’ decision to refer the matter to the Constitutional Council.
Furthermore, the coalition invoked Article LO172 of the Electoral Code. This statute stipulates that any minister elected as a deputy automatically forfeits their parliamentary mandate if they fail to resign from the government within an eight-day period. The FDR alleged that PASTEF attempted to circumvent this legal provision by unilaterally amending the internal regulations of the National Assembly. However, the Front argues this maneuver is unconstitutional on two counts. Firstly, Article 54 of the Constitution mandates that such a return to parliamentary duties must be governed by an organic law, explicitly integrated into the Electoral Code, rather than being subtly introduced within internal procedural rules. Secondly, the adopted amendment introduces the concept of “deputy substitutes,” a category not recognized under Senegalese law, except within specific departmental majority and proportional electoral systems. The FDR concludes that PASTEF has simultaneously breached the Constitution, the Electoral Code, and the Assembly’s own internal regulations, whose scope, according to its Article 1, is strictly confined to governing the institution’s internal operations.
Issuing a fervent call for broad mobilization, the FDR urged the nation’s vibrant forces to unite behind “a combat action plan” aimed at ensuring strict adherence to the laws governing the Republic.