"Fiery" Personalities

Indeed, "the gendarmes invaded the chamber, exclaims the news website Rewmi. Barely had the vote to elect the president of the National Assembly begun when opposition deputies, including Guy Marius Sagna, threw their ballot on the ground instead of putting it in the ballot box. To bring about change, the gendarmes therefore invaded the chamber, in front of RTS cameras."

"National Assembly: Amadou Mame Diop inherits the speaker's chair... after a chaotic day, notes Seneweb. He will have the immense task of keeping in check a chamber filled with fiery personalities."

Battle Over Positions?

For his part, the former Minister of Energy under President Macky Sall, Thierno Alassane Sall, today a simple deputy, expresses his concern in the columns of the daily newspaper 24 Heures: "the newly elected officials are only interested in positions, he says. And worse, they chose to do it in front of the Senegalese people. The much-heralded break will not come to pass. While Senegalese are in difficulties, their deputies are there bickering."

Who for 2024?

The news website Seneplus raises the tone: "when a president of a parliamentary session can call upon law enforcement to monitor, contain and organize the election of the president of the Assembly, that can amount to a coup d'état. Creeping, standing... Moving toward 2024. This September 12 indeed announces what will surely happen at the 2024 presidential election, exclaims Seneplus. When gendarmes are called in for the election of the Assembly bureau, resorting to the military to impose a third candidacy (for the presidential election) is no longer impossible..."

Neck and Neck...

"An unprecedented boxing match on the ring of the Senegalese National Assembly!" launches for its part WakatSéra in Burkina Faso. "A match that pitted deputies of the ruling party against those of a fragmented opposition that found itself with multiple candidates in the race to succeed Moustapha Niasse. The pugilists of Yewwi Askan Wi and Wallu Sénégal, who had pooled 80 seats following the recent legislative elections, were unable to box under the same colors of united opposition. Yet, together, WakatSéra reminds us, they had rivaled the presidential party, Benno Bokk Yakaar, which won 82 elected officials, barely securing an absolute majority thanks to the support of a kingmaker named Pape Diop. Finally, on this day of voting for the head of the Assembly, the opponents threw in the towel, giving a pyrrhic victory to the champion of the majority, namely Amadou Mame Diop, who becomes the boss of the ring, pardon the chamber, with 83 votes out of 84 voters."

Democratic Maturity?

Finally, notes Le Pays, still in Burkina Faso, "the configuration of the Assembly reveals the dynamism of Senegalese democracy. Unlike what many African Parliaments have accustomed us to seeing, with overwhelming majorities of deputies from the ruling party, here the gap is very small. This reflects the political maturity of the Senegalese people (...). The Senegalese who have shown that they do not intend to give free rein to President Macky Sall to do what he wants, but that, on the contrary, they intend, through the large number of opposition deputies, to have oversight of the political affairs of their country, and to exercise closer control over governmental action."