Senegal Chief of Staff defends President’s constitutional legal actions

Mary Teuw Niane, Chief of Staff to Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, has issued a defense of the President’s decision to involve the Constitutional Council in recent legislative disputes.

In a recent tribune titled ‘L’élégance républicaine’, Niane argues that the President serves as the ‘guardian and guarantor of the regular functioning of institutions’ and the embodiment of national unity. He contends that the President’s decision to seek judicial intervention was a necessary response to parliamentary initiatives he described as ‘untimely’ and ‘adventurous,’ which he claims threaten to deconstruct the country’s republican architecture.

Niane emphasizes that the administration has avoided ‘institutional brutality’ or ‘force,’ opting instead to rely on the law and the judiciary. He asserts that a parliamentary majority, even one claimed with strength, does not supersede the Constitution and that no political victory grants absolute ownership of the state.