Senegal: Opposition Mps reject dissolution of 2 state bodies, block revision of Constitution

Will Senegal's president dissolve the national assembly?

Senegalese lawmakers rejected late Monday a proposed revision of the constitution put forward by the country's new administration.

83 Mps voted to maintain two consultative bodies whose future hung in the balance, 80 voted to dissolve the bodies.

The ruling coalition doesn't hold the majority in parliament.

The revision outlined the dissolution of the High Council of regional governments and the Economic, Social and Environmental Council. It was a key campaign pledge by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.

The bodies have been criticized for being too costly. About $24 million USD are allocated to them.

The president said the vote showed the deep divide between the opposition coalition and the aspirations of the Senegalese people.

The lawmakers of former president Macky Sall have announced they'll lodge a vote of no-confidence against the government of Ousmane Sonko.

The president could also choose to dissolve the assembly or hold a referendum.