Dakar, June 5 (IANS) Senegal’s national political dialogue, which opened on May 28, has concluded with “strong consensus on several key issues” related to the electoral process and institutional reforms, the chief facilitator of the discussions, Cheikh Gueye, said.
“All active forces of the Nation were widely represented. In the end, we achieved 100 per cent consensus within the Commission on Institutional Reforms,” he said at the closing session on Wednesday in Dakar.
Gueye noted that 94 per cent of the members of the commission on the electoral process approved the proposals, reports Xinhua news agency.
The dialogue, which started on May 28, was being held at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Center in Diamniadio, about 30 kilometres from the capital Dakar.
The commission was tasked with making recommendations on how to organise the sponsorship system, implementing consensus from previous dialogues that have not yet been put into practice, and enabling automatic or permanent voter registration through the ECOWAS biometric national identity card.
However, the chief facilitator of the discussions reported a divergence within the Commission on Democracy, Freedoms, and Human Rights, where only 26 per cent of members supported reforms.
He also highlighted that around 15,000 Senegalese, mostly youth, expressed their views on the various issues raised during the dialogue via a dedicated online platform.
The primary objective of the national political dialogue was to bring together the country’s key stakeholders to identify and agree on necessary reforms to strengthen Senegalese democracy and respond to the deep aspirations of the people.
Several former prime ministers, ex-heads of national institutions, political leaders, religious and traditional authorities, as well as members of civil society, trade unions, former parliamentarians, private sector actors, and media professionals took part in the event.
–IANS
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