Senegal: Parliament strips lawmaker Aminata Touré of mandate

Senegal’s parliament has removed former Prime Minister and critic of President Macky Sall Aminata Touré from the house, upon a request from the ruling coalition.

“I have just learned of my exclusion from the National Assembly by Macky Sall in total violation of the law. I remain more determined than ever to continue my fight for the entrenchment of Senegalese Democracy and against his attempt at a morally and legally unacceptable 3rd mandate,” the lawmaker said on Twitter.

Touré had been an ally of President Sall until the latest legislatives held in July last year. She ran for election for Benno Bokk Yaakaar coalition supporting the President. She won her seat in the parliament but submitted her resignation to the House in October in reaction to Sall’s appointment of Amadou Mame Diop at her expense. She also announced her plans to run for 2024 presidential elections.

The Coalition slammed her resignation and demanded the application of article 60 of the constitution. The article stipulates that “any member of parliament who resigns from his/her party during the legislature is automatically stripped of his/her mandate”.

Toure however claims she has resigned from the party.