Senegal Lawmakers exchange blows and hurl a chair in parliament over a perceived insult to influential opposition religious leader. An opposition MP Massata Samb slapped legislator Amy Ndiaye over her remark’s influential opposition religious leader, Serigne Moustapha Sy which was widely circulating on television and social media. Ndiaye on November 27, 2022 had accused him of betraying his word and disrespecting President Macky Sall, according to media reports.

Close observed had disclosed that tension have been growing in Parliament since the Governing Party Lost its comfortable Majority in the July Election. Legislative elections in July led to a virtual tie, requiring Macky Sall’s ruling party to forge a coalition to stay in power. Sall, who has been President of Senegal since April 2012 was initially elected to a seven-year term in 2012 and re-elected for a five-year tenure in 2019. He has not divulged his plans for the next presidential vote, due in 2024.

Senegal has been widely viewed as a beacon of democratic stability in West Africa, a region notorious for democratic instability, coups and dictatorships. However, the current bust-up erupted during a vote on the justice ministry’s budget for 2023. Regrettably, some members of the governing coalition, as well as feminist activists, had described as unacceptable the physical attack on Ndiaye, which coincided with an awareness campaign about violence against women and girls.