Dakar, June 28 (APS) – The daily newspapers continued on Friday that the controversy is growing over the Prime Minister’s general policy declaration, as the political class divides over whether or not Ousmane Sonko should sacrifice to this republican ritual.
Many political actors, including opposition MPs, are urging the head of government to go to the National Assembly to deliver his general policy statement to the MPs, approximately three months after his appointment as head of government.
But MPs from his political camp, through the Yewwi Askan Wi (YAW) parliamentary group, maintain that the Prime Minister’s hearing before the 14e legislature is currently impossible, due to an inconsistency in the internal regulations of the National Assembly.
A 2019 amendment has removed the references to the general policy statement and the motion of censure from the National Assembly’s rules of procedure. The consequence, they say, is that in the current state of affairs, it would be impossible for the Prime Minister to make his general policy statement.
In the columns of the daily Soleil, Guy Marius Sagna, an influential deputy from the power camp, even asks the head of government to “not keep his general policy declaration as long as the provisions relating to the Prime Minister have not been reinstated in the internal regulations of the National Assembly”.
The fact remains that some observers and political actors, the latter generally from the opposition camp, do not agree with this position, or simply do not hear it that way, like MP Mariétou Dieng.
“The parliamentarian maintains, in a note, that by sacrificing to this republican tradition, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko would show great respect for the + symbolic values of our institutions +”, reports Le Soleil.
“Living up to history”
The headline on the front page of this newspaper, (“A declaration of general policy, a thousand echoes”), is an interesting summary of the controversy fueled by this subject, and which ““It’s swelling,” notes the daily newspaper Enquête and Vox Populi. “Sonko’s general policy statement: the controversy swells, politicians get carried away,” the latter newspaper reports.
Enquête notes that the “controversy” “is not far from fading away” on this subject. The newspaper returns to the reactions of several political actors, including Thierno Alassane Sall, leader of the Republic of Values and candidate in the presidential election of March 24.
Mr. Sall asks the regime in place in Senegal since last April and the presidential election on March 24 to “live up to history”. He adds, quoted by Libération: “Invoking the internal regulations of the National Assembly to evade a constitutional provision is frankly not the path to rupture”.
Similarly, Samba Sy, leader of the Independence and Labor Party (PIT), expresses a point of view that is intended to be definitive on the issue: “The truth is that Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko is not ready,” he asserts in comments reported by the daily newspaper Enquête.
But among the detractors of the Prime Minister, the most violent reaction came from Bougane Guèye Dany, leader of the Gueum Sa Bopp movement. “They want to legitimize a forfeiture by summoning [le règlement intérieur de l’Assemblée nationale] to bail out a PM who, in truth, has no governance project to defend,” he said in remarks highlighted by Vox Populi.
“Dissatisfied with the failure to keep the general policy statement, the leader of Gueum Sa Bopp vented his bile on Ousmane Sonko,” notes Le Mandat. For Bougane Guèye Dany, “if the current Prime Minister finds evasions to avoid sacrificing the traditional general policy statement, it is because he has no governance project,” reports the daily Kritik’.
There is also this “firm” position of the former deputy Doudou Wade. “If Ousmane Sonko wants to come and make his general policy statement, his parliamentary group only has to strive to put in place the legal provisions,” he recommends to decide, on the front page of the daily newspaper Les Echos.
“The State unveils its plans for the private sector”
Which does not seem to be able to put an end to the controversy, given the many headlines devoted to this subject. “Warlike political declarations”, for example, displays Bès Bi Le Jour. “Group shots on Sonko and his deputies”, underlines the daily Les Echos. Virile headlines, but also others inspired by a simple observation: “The general policy declaration is raging”.
According to Sud Quotidien, the question of the general policy declaration “is causing a major controversy in the political space”, the newspaper observing that “assessments diverge from one camp to another”.
Except that if we are to believe Professor Meïssa Diakhaté, a public law lecturer interviewed on this subject by Sud Quotidien, “the Prime Minister is no longer bound by a deadline to submit to the general policy statement.”
Other themes, notably relating to the economy, still try to survive in the shadow of the controversy. Le Soleil is thus interested in strengthening the Senegalese private sector.
“The State reveals its plans”, displays the newspaper, reporting that on the occasion of the opening of the company meetings, yesterday Thursday, in Dakar, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation and its counterpart in charge of Trade “described the levers that the government intends to use to boost the private sector”.
This is a good thing, since the employers took advantage of these meetings to air their concerns, relayed by the president of the National Employers’ Council (CNP), Baïdy Agne. “The rendering of accounts is an act of good governance, but should not result in the cessation of the execution of current public/private contracts,” declared Mr. Agne, quoted by the daily newspaper Les Echos.
The CNP, however, “welcomed the stance of the new authorities who advocate economic sovereignty and patriotism, a vision which places the national private sector at the heart of public policies”, writes the daily L’info.
On the question of the petition seeking an international arrest warrant against former President Macky Sall, Rewmi daily reports that former Prime Minister Aminata Touré “validates the hunt”.
”We have seen it in several countries, such as in Chile with Pinochet. Former President Moussa Dadis Camara faces justice…Senegal should be no exception,” said the former Prime Minister, who became a fierce opponent of Macky Sall, in comments reported by Rewmi daily.
BK
