Court of appeal declines to rule on Ousmane Sonko’s parliamentary status

The urgent application filed before the Supreme Court of Senegal has been dismissed after the presiding judge ruled that the matter of reinstating Ousmane Sonko as a deputy fell under the exclusive jurisdiction of the national assembly. The decision follows a petition submitted by the Union nationale des indépendants du Sénégal, which challenged the procedural validity of Sonko’s reinstallation as a deputy before his subsequent elevation to the presidency of the National Assembly.

Conseil constitutionnel had earlier declined similar challenge

This latest judicial setback comes just months after the Constitutional Council also declined to rule on a comparable appeal filed by eighteen opposition lawmakers. The Council reasoned that the contested procedural act was not directly tied to the national electoral process and thus lay beyond its powers to review the regularity of elections. With both the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council declining to rule on the merits, Ousmane Sonko’s return to the parliamentary chamber remains shrouded in legal ambiguity.

Legal experts and opposition decry ‘institutional void’

Critics, including prominent attorney Amadou Guèye, have slammed the Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene, describing it as a breach of constitutional order and a source of systemic legal instability. These concerns echo broader dissatisfaction voiced by opposition figures and legal scholars, who argue that the absence of definitive judicial guidance is exacerbating political divisions. Ousmane Sonko himself has framed the ongoing legal challenges as politically motivated attempts to undermine his legitimacy, alleging a coordinated conspiracy orchestrated by adversaries within the establishment.

While the Supreme Court has declined to rule on an emergency basis, the substantive appeal remains pending, leaving the final outcome uncertain. The unresolved dispute continues to deepen the rift between the parliamentary majority aligned with Sonko and segments of the opposition, which have pursued multiple legal avenues without securing judicial relief to date.

By Mariama Hamani — Analyst