This is an extraordinary session following the adoption of the text in the Council of Ministers on Monday 5 July. In perspective: local elections, postponed several times and finally sat until January 23, 2022.
as reported from Dakar, Charlotte idrac
We must act quickly: the law on the election law must be adopted by 23 July. That is, six months before the date of the municipal and departmental elections, within the deadlines set by ECOWAS, the regional organization. It is the Minister of the Interior who will present the bill on Thursday afternoon, July 8, to the assembly. A text that stems from the political dialogue initiated by the head of state in 2019.
A dialogue in which Moundiaye Cissé, CEO of NGO 3D, participated: “The method of electing mayors is changing above all, it is a method of election through direct general election. This is an important step forward, as it gives even more power to the citizens. The second thing that changes is the abandonment of sponsorship for the local elections. It remains to be seen at the presidential level, if we will keep it, because that is one of the points of disagreement. ”
Blocking points
In the end, there is no agreement on five points: the deposit amount for the candidates, the issue of the only vote or the revision of the articles depriving the convicts of their civil and political rights. This is the case with the former mayor of Dakar and the son of ex-president Abdoulaye Wade.
“If you follow my gaze, it’s for Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade. In any case, part of the dialogue recommended that this article be amended. Will Karim and Khalifa and all the other convicts today lose their right to vitamin A? Moundiaye Cissé asks.
Another disagreement: the question of an independent authority to monitor the election. In their review report on the case, the experts had pointed out the “distrust of the actors” towards the electoral governing bodies due to their hierarchical connection to the Ministry of the Interior. On all these points, arbitration is up to the head of state.
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