Following the National Assembly’s adoption of the proposed constitutional revision, Ousmane Sonko meticulously recounted the entire process leading to this reform. He then directly attributed responsibility for the controversies surrounding the text to the head of state. “Should any manipulation have occurred,” Sonko asserted, “it originated with the President of the Republic. He examined the document, choosing what suited his interests and discarding what did not. The Constitution is not the personal property of Bassirou Diomaye Faye.”

The President of the National Assembly further illustrated his point by referencing specific provisions he accused the head of state of having excluded. These notably included the requirement for a declaration of assets at the conclusion of a presidential mandate, and a prohibition against the President of the Republic simultaneously leading a political party. Sonko then questioned the legitimacy of such an approach: “By what authority can a single individual selectively choose between provisions that are convenient for them and those that are not? This is unacceptable.”

Indeed, Ousmane Sonko took care to reiterate the hierarchy of constitutional powers, explicitly denying the President of the Republic the status of a constituent power. “The President is not a constituent power,” he clarified. “The derivative constituent power resides with the National Assembly, while the original constituent power belongs to the people, exercised when they are convened via a referendum.”