Eligibility of Khalifa and Karim: Risks of Blockage at the National Assembly

Members of the ruling coalition secretly want the National Assembly to overhaul the laws that could make Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade eligible. They believe that it is not when he announces his departure that President Macky Sall should bequeath such powerful adversaries to them.

The President of the Republic announced it on Monday, June 3, and the government made it happen yesterday: the texts revising the Constitution and modifying the Electoral Code, intended to allow the return to the electoral game of Khalifa Ababacar Sall and Karim Meïssa Wade, as noted during the national dialogue. The next step, still according to the wishes of President Macky Sall, will be the approval by the National Assembly of the new configuration.

At first glance, looking at the composition of the 14th legislature, within which the Coalition Benno bokk yaakaar has around 82 deputies and Wallu, an offshoot of the Pds, has 24, to which we could add the 17 deputies who are members of the Coalition Yewwi askan wi, but also members of Khalifa Sall’s Taxawu Senegaal, one would think that the law could pass like a spam-free email.

Because already, as noted in many media, the renunciation of Macky Sall has left a big void with his supporters, and strongly threatens the balance within the ruling coalition.

Many executives do not hesitate to whisper into the lapel of their boubou that Macky Sall is having a baby on their back. Some of these people opened up to Le Quotidiennewspaper about their moods: “Macky Sall never wanted to face, during all his terms, neither Karim Wade nor Khalifa Sall. He had managed to invalidate their candidacies. And he waits for the moment when he leaves, to put these two adversaries in our hands,” lament some. These officials wonder if, at a time when the ruling coalition does not even know yet which champion will wear its colors for the next presidential election, if it would be wise to gracefully oppose two adversary heavyweights.

Stating that they want to translate the thoughts of their fellow MEPs, these people, who have been among the most vocal in asking Macky Sall to run for a new lease, say that there are among their elected officials those who are seriously thinking about not vote on the bill amending the Electoral Code. To the remark that it would be a snub inflicted on their leader, these aperitifs retort that they no longer owe him much: “We have always been faithful to him when he needed us to lead. But we cannot conceive that he creates problems for us when he announces his departure. It’s not consistent. » In easy French, all this means that the next parliamentary session, responsible for voting on the bill that the government will present, will be closely watched.