Convened for 10am on Wednesday, the session to examine the controversial amnesty bill opened shortly after 11am at the National Assembly.
Majority and opposition MPs, divided on the issue, will debate throughout the day President Macky Sall’s initiative to grant amnesty for offences relating to violent demonstrations between February 2021 and February 2024, following the court cases of opposition politician Ousmane Sonko, who has been in prison since July 2023.
The previous day, the Committee on Laws, Decentralisation, Labour and Human Rights adopted the text, although the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) MPs declared in the evening that they were following the line of the Yewwi Askan Wi (YAW, liberate the people) coalition. This opposition coalition, led by Ousmane Sonko and company, said it was not seeking an amnesty, although the mayor of Ziguinchor (south) and his candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye could be released in the next few hours if the bill is passed.
While sources indicate that MPs from the former PASTEF party abstained from the vote in the Law Committee, several opponents of the bill have criticised them for their neutral stance. They believe that the bill is a denial of justice and an insult to the families of victims of political demonstrations between 2021 and 2024.
Present at the event, the Minister of Justice, Aissata Tall Sall, 3maintained that this bill is not intended for President Macky Sall, the demonstrators or those in detention. This bill is for the future of Senegal.”
“In this respect, she invited your commissioners to show forgiveness, to go as far as possible and to put themselves at the service of Senegal for the adoption of the said text,” the Minister of Justice emphasised, adding that the urgency of the examination of such a bill by the outgoing Head of State “is justified by his desire to pacify the public arena before the end of his term of office” on 2 April.
ODL/ac/fss/abj/APA