The second reading of the bill amending the Electoral Code sparked a heated exchange in the National Assembly. During a plenary session, MP Tafsir Thioye challenged the procedural regularity and accused parliamentary authorities of attempting to pass a text different from the one initially voted on by the members. Speaking in response to a preliminary question, the MP requested that the debate not proceed, arguing that several provisions of the National Assembly's rules of procedure had been violated.

"We are violating our internal regulations."

Addressing the assembly, Tafsir Thioye asserted that the procedure surrounding the second reading raised serious legal issues. "Mr. Speaker, I have requested the floor to assert my rights in accordance with Article 84, to request that we not proceed with the deliberations given the numerous problems related to this text," he stated. The MP specifically cited several articles of the rules of procedure that he believes have been violated, mentioning Articles 93, 82, 46, and 69. According to him, the National Assembly cannot afford to deviate from its own operating rules.

But it was primarily on the content of the document submitted for the second reading that the MP focused his criticism. "That text is not the text we adopted here in plenary session," he insisted. The parliamentarian claims to have tried unsuccessfully to obtain the authentic version of the text from the parliamentary administration. He even recounts that a document was allegedly taken away from him after being given to him in committee. "I was given that text, then it was taken away from me right here in the committee room," he maintained.

From "bad text" to "false text"

In a particularly serious statement, Tafsir Thioye went a step further, calling the submitted document a "false text." "Before, I said it was a bad text. Today, I say it's a false text," he declared before the members of parliament. According to him, amendments were introduced after the plenary vote, notably in the explanatory memorandum and in certain provisions of the law. The MP considers this a "flagrant and dangerous violation" of the National Assembly's rules of procedure.

The request for publication of the minutes

To support his accusations, Tafsir Thioye requested the publication of the official minutes of the plenary session that adopted the initial text. "I request, in accordance with the provisions of Article 73, that the minutes of the meeting be distributed so that everyone can know what was decided," he argued. According to him, only this document will allow verification of whether the text submitted for the second reading truly corresponds to the one adopted by the members of parliament. This intervention comes amidst already tense tensions surrounding the request for a second reading made by Speaker Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

As a reminder, the head of state referred the matter to the National Assembly after receiving two different versions of the law amending the Electoral Code. The Speaker of the National Assembly, El Malick Ndiaye, had initially cited a simple "clerical error" made after the first vote. However, Tafsir Thioye's accusations now risk further inflaming the controversy surrounding this electoral reform and reigniting the debate on the reliability of the legislative process within the National Assembly.