Senegal is embarking on a historic transformation of its governance with the National Pact for Good Democratic Governance, a crucial initiative signed by 13 of the 17 candidates in the presidential election of March 2024. This unprecedented approach responds to the deep aspirations of a people determined to turn the page on years of democratic decline.
Fruit of the conclusions of the National Conference of 2008-2009 and the recommendations of the National Commission for the Reform of Institutions (CNRI) of 2013, this Pact represents the cornerstone of an urgent institutional overhaul. It establishes a strict framework for governance over the next five years, with concrete measures to be implemented from the first year of the presidential mandate.
At the heart of this reform: the establishment of a participatory democracy where the citizen voice becomes constitutional. The text provides for a complete overhaul of public administration, imposing transparency, merit and depoliticization. The management of natural resources, a key point of national development, will be subject to strict standards of transparency and equity.
The independence of justice, the effective separation of powers and reinforced decentralization constitute the pillars of this reform. An independent monitoring committee ensures the rigorous application of commitments, thus guaranteeing the long-awaited break with past practices.
This pact transcends the simple electoral promise: it represents a historic social contract for a new Senegal. Its immediate and comprehensive application is an absolute necessity to meet the expectations of Senegalese people who have clearly expressed their thirst for change at the polls.
Senegal
