Rejected Senegal budget: Matar Diène invokes Constitution
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Senego
After the rejection of the 2026 supplementary finance bill, Matar Diène, president of the Citizens’ Initiative Movement for the Development of Senegal, called on President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye to use the mechanisms provided for in Articles 68 and 86 of the Constitution. He believes the rejection could complicate public debt payments and fuel supplies to power stations, reports Rewmi.
Matar Diène, president of the Citizens’ Initiative Movement for the Development of Senegal (ICDS), called on President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye to use constitutional mechanisms to ensure the continuity of the state after the rejection of the 2026 supplementary finance bill. He cited Articles 68 and 86 of the Constitution, concerning deadlines for adopting finance bills and the government’s assumption of responsibility for a budget bill, according to Senego and Rewmi.
Matar Diène believes that concerns about the budget’s credibility must receive precise and transparent answers, but that they should have been examined during an in-depth debate. The rejection came after MPs adopted a preliminary objection, without examining the bill on its merits. The government says it needs the bill to settle debts owed to private companies and electricity suppliers, and to maintain fuel supplies for power stations.
The request comes after the rejection of the 2026 supplementary budget by the Senegalese committee on 25 October, followed by the return of the supplementary budget to committee, announced on 27 October. It also comes on the day Madiambal Diagne raised the possibility of dissolving Senegal’s National Assembly, on 3 November.
