Rédaction Africa Links 24 with pierre Dieme
Published on 2024-03-02 20:17:35
As some officials of the current regime increasingly mention the possibility of abolishing the current Constitutional Council in case its members refuse to endorse the proposals of the national dialogue initiated by the President on February 26 and 27, Professor Ndiogou Sarr, a specialist in constitutional law, sheds light on the matter. Questioned by Sud Quotidien, the lecturer and researcher in public law at the Faculty of Legal and Political Sciences of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, while emphasizing that the Constitution confers on the head of state constituent power, clarified that he “cannot revoke the mandate of the Council members, let alone abolish this institution.” According to him, the only possibility provided by law is the replacement of the Constitutional Council by a Constitutional Court that would not nullify the decisions made by the current Constitutional Council.
Will the President continue his standoff with the Constitutional Council regarding the continuation of the ongoing electoral process, even to the point of dissolving this high jurisdiction if it refuses to validate the proposals of the national dialogue he initiated on February 26 and 27? The question deserves to be asked based on the statements of some officials of the ruling coalition. Indeed, as Senegal sinks into an institutional crisis due to their mentor, Macky Sall’s refusal to implement the decision made by this jurisdiction on February 15, asking him to set a new date for the presidential election originally scheduled for February 25 before the end of his term on April 2, some of his supporters increasingly mention the possibility of dissolving the Constitutional Council.
Questioned about the conditions for abolishing this institution, the researcher in constitutional law at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, while noting that the Constitution grants the head of state constituent power allowing him to propose constitutional revisions, specified that he “cannot revoke the mandate of the Council members, let alone proceed with the abolition of this institution.”
Continuing his argument, Professor Ndiogou Sarr maintains that the only way in which the head of state can put an end to the mission of the current Constitutional Council is to replace it with a Constitutional Court. “The President has powers conferred on him by the Constitution, and among these, there is constituent power. In other words, the power to propose a constitutional reform whenever he deems it necessary through parliamentary or referendum procedures,” he immediately stressed.
Furthermore, he pointed out that “The only possibility is to propose a bill to reform the Constitution that establishes a Constitutional Court with the same mission as the current Constitutional Council. If this text is passed by its parliamentary majority, naturally, the consequence is that the current Constitutional Council will disappear along with all its members to make way for a Constitutional Court. But without this procedure, he cannot revoke the mandate of the current Council members, let alone proceed with its abolition.”
Not stopping there, the lecturer and researcher in public law at the Faculty of Legal and Political Sciences of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar also clarified that the establishment of this Constitutional Court will not impact the decisions already made by the Constitutional Council. “The establishment of this Constitutional Court will not annul the decisions made by the current Constitutional Council, especially regarding the continuation of the electoral process. The decision of February 15 is a court decision and is enforceable and binding on everyone. In the event of the replacement of the Constitutional Council, its decisions that have already been made remain valid, and the coming Constitutional Court cannot ignore these decisions because the selected candidates have a strong acquired right from an irrevocable court decision.”
Read the original article(French) on Dakar Matin
