The Ministry of the Interior and Public Security actively prepares the day of national dialogue on the political system. The services of Jean Baptiste Tine also sent the opposition the terms of the event, not without soliciting their feedback in relation to the organization of activity and the proposals for reforms.
The process of leading to national dialogue on the political system is engaged. Indeed, the Ministry of the Interior has already sent to the Front Coordinator for the Defense of the Republic (FDR) the terms of the meeting of the meeting. In the document dated April 7, 2025, Khalifa Ababacar Sall and his comrades are asked to make observations on the document as well as reform proposals or recommendations before the end of April.
It has also been noted that a steering committee will direct the work, with the mission of organizing and coordinating consultations; to facilitate mediation and consensus between the parties; and write a general work report. The Interior Ministry also specifies that the meeting place and period will be communicated later.
Returning to the terms of reference, Minister Jean Baptiste Tine and his services recall that the stability and longevity of Senegalese democracy are based on the regular organization of elections, the involvement of all actors through a largely consensual process and the ability to resilient the political system.
However, they underline, as efficient as it is, the political system in Senegal must be continuously evaluated and improved, taking into account the observed dysfunctions, technological changes, demographic evolution and good international democratic practices. It is also recalled that since the adoption of the consensual electoral code of 1992, concertation between stakeholders has become a tradition for the fixing of the institutional framework governing the organization of elections in Senegal.
Jean Baptiste Tine et Cie also note that the head of state is aware of the need to preserve and strengthen this democratic tradition. This is why, they specify, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye called for an inclusive national dialogue on the institutional environment relating to political and electoral issues.
Still, according to the Ministry of the Interior, the coming deadlines, which involve making more transparent and inclusive the institutional base, are: the territorial elections in 2027, the presidential election in 2029; And the legislative elections in 2029. It is therefore essential, he underlines, to set up a consultation framework promoting open and constructive exchanges on institutional reforms.
Major reforms in view
Under these major institutional reforms, the President of the Republic, during the address to the nation of April 3, 2024, relaunched the debate on the need to replace the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA) by an Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI). Better still, it is noted, these consultations will be an opportunity to discuss the improvement of the institutional framework of the political system in Senegal as well as the reform and the improvement of the Senegalese electoral system.
The discussions will indeed focus on: “The content to be given to the status of the opposition and its leader; the debate on automatic registration on the electoral file from the establishment of the National Identity of Biometric Cedeao and from the age of majority; the revision of the sponsorship system; examining the role of the authorities in charge of elections and the media; the place of justice in the electoral process; the rationalization of the republican calendar; in -depth rationalization of political parties; supervision of financing political parties; and the revision of the electoral code.
There will also be a question of the study on the technical specifications of the single bulletin; of the opportunity to carry out an audit of the electoral file; digitization of the electoral process; and the vote of people in detention ”.
Previously, Jean Baptiste Tine and his men had argued that the institutional architecture governing the political system and the elections in Senegal must regularly be redesigned in the light of political changes, protean crises and dysfunctions noted during the electoral deadlines.
One system, whatever it is, they specify, must necessarily constantly question its foundations in order to adapt to changing political temporality. And this observation requires the holding of a national dialogue on the system, they said.
