Following the adoption of the constitutional revision bill by the National Assembly, Ousmane Sonko delivered a scathing critique of the process, placing direct responsibility on the Head of State for the controversies surrounding the reform. In a pointed statement, he declared: “If there was any manipulation, it originated from the President. He cherry-picked provisions that suited his interests while discarding those that didn’t. The Constitution does not belong to Bassirou Diomaye Faye.”
The leader of the Patriots of Senegal party went further by questioning the legitimacy of the President’s selective approach. He emphasized that certain key provisions—such as mandatory asset declarations at the end of a mandate and prohibiting the President from leading a political party—were deliberately excluded. “On what grounds does one individual have the right to decide which constitutional clauses are acceptable and which are not? This is simply unacceptable,” Sonko asserted, underscoring the gravity of the situation.
Sonko also took the opportunity to clarify the hierarchy of constitutional powers, firmly rejecting the notion that the President holds any authority over constitutional matters. “The President is not a constituent power. The derived constituent power lies with the National Assembly, while the original constituent power resides with the people, exercised through a referendum when necessary.”