Senegal Socialist Party leadership faces legal challenge

Aminata Mbengue Ndiaye, the interim Secretary General of the Socialist Party (PS), has been summoned to appear before a judge on November 2 following a legal challenge by a group of young party cadres.

The plaintiffs, including Daour Sagna, Amadou Sow, Birahima Camara, and Ibrahima Ndiaye, argue that Ndiaye’s interim leadership, which began in May 2019 after the death of Ousmane Tanor Dieng, lacks a legal basis under the party's statutes. They contend that all mandates resulting from the June 2014 congress expired on June 9, 2018, and that the party is required to hold an ordinary congress every four years.

The group accuses the current leadership of causing an incomprehensible lethargy within the party and describes the situation as a “hostage-taking” of the organization. Through their legal representative, Me Cheikh Ahmadou Ndiaye, the challengers are seeking a judicial ruling to declare the current mandates expired and to appoint trustees to organize an ordinary congress to elect a new Secretary General.