The crisis that hit Senegal before the 25th March 2024 presidential election made many people to have the fear that the country was either going to be engulfed in endless civil strife or a coup d’état, which had never happened throughout its history. The institutional crisis which affected the three arms of the state, that is, the
Executive, the National Assembly and the judiciary gave birth to a constitutional crisis that was only resolved by consensus. The Senegalese people avoided the constitutional crisis by not allowing a second round of voting to take place, which would have exceeded the April 2nd, 2024 deadline for President Macky Sall to vacate office, by electing President Diomaye Faye in the first round by attaining 54 percent of the votes cast.
After the presidential election, the government claimed that it did not have a parliamentary majority to have its legislation passed without hindrance. Now the Senegalese people have spoken and have given them so far 132 seats out of 160 thus far pronounced, thus giving them more than three quarters majority, despite the participation of former President Macky Sall in the election as the head of one of the coalitions.
This should confirm to him that even if he had sought a third term it would have been very difficult for him to succeed. His decision not to seek a third term was therefore right.
The government has been given the requisite majority to deliver on purpose. The Senegalese people have indeed spoken. It is now the duty of the government to listen and act according to their will and aspiration. History, that untiring scribe, has started to record the performance of the government on its diary on a day to day basis. The future will be the judge.
