Ousmane Sonko confirmed this Friday, December 27 in his general policy speech what his government had already promised, namely that it intends to investigate the three years of political violence which shook the country under the presidency of Macky Sall.
The Malian Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, announced this Friday, December 27 that his government would table a project to repeal the amnesty law of former President Macky Sall covering the relative facts of political violence between 2021 and 2024 which had caused dozens of deaths. “In addition to the budgetary inclusion of credit intended for victims, a bill will be proposed to your august Assembly in the coming weeks bringing back the amnesty law passed on March 6, 2024 so that all the light is shed and the responsibilities established on whatever side they are”, declared Ousmane Sonko during his general policy speech to deputies. He nevertheless wanted to reassure: “This is not a witch hunt, even less revenge […]. It is about justice, the pillar without which no social peace can be built.”
The government had already promised to shed light on these events. The Senegalese president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was elected at the end of March after three years of confrontation with the power of President Macky Sall (2012-2024) which left dozens dead, according to NGOs and the opposition at the time. . Elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019, Macky Sall remained unclear in 2024 about his desire to run for a third term. The hypothesis of his candidacy had encountered strong opposition in the name of respect for the Senegalese Constitution. An amnesty law initiated by Macky Sall was passed before the election to ease the situation and allowed hundreds of imprisoned people to be released from prison, including President Faye and Prime Minister Sonko.
Promise of systemic change
Enshrined in the Constitution and inscribed in Senegal’s republican tradition since its independence (1960), Ousmane Sonko’s general policy speech comes nine months after his appointment as head of government after several postponements. The fiery Prime Minister refused to appear in June before Parliament, which was dominated at the time by a camp that was hostile to him. He cited irregularities in the internal regulations of the National Assembly, which had given rise to several weeks of standoff between the executive and the legislative power.
A new postponement took place in mid-September after the dissolution of Parliament by President Faye. The early legislative elections organized on November 17 were largely won by the party of Faye and Sonko, who now have the majority necessary to implement their program of rupture. The new authorities have since presented in mid-October a development plan for the next five years as part of a twenty-five-year strategy. The latter is supposed to break with what Ousmane Sonko called “the vicious circle of [la] dependence and underdevelopment”, and deliver on the promise of systemic change. Sonko indicated at the end of September that he found Senegal’s accounts in a poor state “catastrophic”, with a budget deficit of 10.4% of GDP and a public debt of 76.3% of GDP. The country’s human development index is among the 25 lowest in the world.
