DPG: The expectations of the Senegalese

The general policy declaration of the Prime Minister, Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo, is scheduled for Tuesday, September 8 at the National Assembly. After an initial postponement, the head of government should return to the agreement concluded with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and respond to the emergencies of the Senegalese faced today with the high cost of living, the employment problem and the debt. All this, in a hemicycle where the majority is not his.

The National Assembly announced the holding of a plenary session tomorrow Tuesday September 8, 2026 devoted to the General Policy Declaration (Dpg) of Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo. A major constitutional exercise during which the head of government must present to the deputies the main directions of his action and the priorities of his team. A highly anticipated meeting, after a first procedural hiccup which prevented it from taking place on the date initially announced by presidential decree (decree no. 2026-1530 of August 25, 2026). The session is finally set for Tuesday September 8, 2026 at 10 a.m., in a context marked by a difficult daily life marked by the high cost of living.

Concrete before promises

The question on everyone’s lips is this: what will the new Prime Minister say? On the ground, the Senegalese people we met did not mince their words. In front of the Dakar train station, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, in his forties, is more concerned about public finances. “We signed an agreement with the IMF, several billion, but will that translate into real investment for us or will we just repay debts? », he asks. He also does not forget the tense political climate. “Everyone saw that there were tensions before the date was set. I hope that this Dpg will be a moment of appeasement, not a settling of scores,” he confides.
Just in front of the station, Ousmane Fall, real name, is a taxi driver. This taxi driver who appears to be in his forties drives an old yellow and black Peugeot 405 whose bodywork has long lost its shine. Inside, the seat fabric is threadbare in places and a rosary swings in the rearview mirror to the rhythm of the small shakes. Every time he downshifts, the gearbox makes a loud metallic noise. “It’s the drop in prices that interests me. Everything is expensive. Eating has become expensive. The price of fuel also interests us. We increased it again recently, it’s really complicated,” he says, half-resigned, half-annoyed, his left hand firmly on the steering wheel, the other on the manual gearbox. He wants something concrete in the new Prime Minister’s program. “What I’m waiting for is for him (Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo, Editor’s note) to announce measures that we will feel immediately, not in two or three years or ever. We must lower the price of fuel, the price of rice and oil…” he said, just near the roundabout in front of the National Assembly.
In front of the hemicycle, Ibrahima Ba returns from the mosque after Friday prayers. Fair-complexioned, he wears a yellow basin boubou. Slender in size, the man has an imposing gait. Rosary between the thumb and the other fingers of the right hand, prayer mat on the left hand, his lips barely move showing that he is saying prayers. Intercepted in front of the entrance to the National Assembly, this sixty-year-old speaks on the General Policy Declaration which has had the greatest impact on him. His face lights up. “That of Idrissa Seck in 2003,” he says with a hint of a smile. This memory remains vivid for him, because “he had sung for the Diola which had capsized a few months earlier”, he explains, wiping the sweat that was beading on his forehead with a handkerchief. He admits that this memory particularly marked him. Ibrahima says he still expects a lot from this new head of government. “I expect actions from Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo, not nice sentences. The country needs us to stop talking and act on employment, on debt, on the cost of living. Young people certainly have the future ahead of them. This is not the case for those who are older like me,” he says in a firmer tone.

A Dpg under political tension

These expectations take on another dimension in light of the current political context. For political scientist Moussa Diaw, the Dpg does not constitute a simple institutional formality. Provided for by article 55 of the Constitution, it is followed by a debate and can lead to a vote of confidence. In the current context, the exercise is above all a major political issue for the government. The postponement of the Dpg, believes the political scientist, is also symptomatic of the crisis between the executive and the legislature. The disagreement comes in particular after the rejection by the Constitutional Council of the law governing special funds. “We are witnessing a trench war between the two parties,” he analyzes, believing that consultation could have made it possible to defuse the standoff between the two powers. Beyond this institutional battle, the Prime Minister will also have to respond to the concerns expressed in the streets. According to Moussa Diaw, Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo will be faced with a delicate exercise: defending the agreement concluded with the IMF while remaining faithful to the commitments made in terms of purchasing power and employment. Commitments which, he recalls, could be difficult to reconcile with the measures generally associated with IMF programs which are often not popular with the populations. In a National Assembly where the government no longer has a majority to serve as a point of support for its policy, the Prime Minister’s room for maneuver thus appears reduced.

By Yaya SOW