Senegal’s National Assembly concluded its extraordinary session on Thursday, August 20, 2026, after two weeks of intense legislative activity. Three government-backed bills were passed and are now awaiting promulgation, while the fate of two urgent proposals introduced by the ruling Pastef majority remains uncertain.
The five bills on the agenda during the extraordinary session took centre stage amid renewed political tensions between the camp of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and that of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.
Two Pastef proposals put on hold
The first proposal, which was largely approved by MPs on Monday, August 17, would require the country’s three highest state officials to declare their assets at the end of their term in office.
The government has expressed support for the measure but wants it to be submitted first to a referendum, whose date has yet to be announced.
The proposal would form part of a broader constitutional reform.
According to political science professor Moussa Diaw of Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis, the dispute is less about the substance of the measure than about political calculations.
“There are ultimately no fundamental differences over asset declarations. But nobody wants to give in. What appears to be taking precedence are political interests and calculations,” he said.
Dispute over state secret funds
The second Pastef-backed proposal seeks to establish greater parliamentary oversight of special funds, sometimes referred to as “secret funds”, used to finance sensitive government expenditures.
The issue is closely linked to promises of greater transparency made by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Sonko’s camp now accuses the president of backtracking on those commitments and blocking the proposed reforms.
But the government has challenged the initiative before the Constitutional Council, arguing that the management of these funds falls under the regulatory powers of the executive rather than parliamentary legislation.
The government filed its case on Tuesday, August 18.
Political science professor Maurice Soudieck Dione described the situation as an escalation of the political confrontation between the two men.
“Political and personal interests are being given a legal framework to make them acceptable,” he said, adding that the country had entered a phase of “contradictions and confrontation” between Faye and Sonko.
The Constitutional Council has until August 26 to rule on the proposal concerning oversight of the special funds.
Three government bills adopted
While the two Pastef proposals remain unresolved, lawmakers approved the three bills introduced by the government.
They concern reforms to the Social Security Code, the Labour Code and a new law on digital security.
The three texts are now awaiting promulgation, bringing the parliamentary marathon to an end — at least temporarily — as the political dispute between the president and his former ally continues to shape Senegal’s legislative agenda.
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