Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – The Supreme Court of Senegal has issued an emergency suspension of a decision by the Prefect of Dakar that declared the resignation of Barthélémy Dias, the former mayor of the capital, from his post as municipal councilor. The case will be definitively decided on August 25, just two days before the Dakar Municipal Council is scheduled to meet.

In ordinance No. 001/2025, signed on August 22 by Justice Aïssatou Diallo Ba on behalf of the Court’s First President, the Court authorized the expedited service of Dias’s request seeking to suspend the prefectural decision No. 3925/P/D/DK/AP dated December 11, 2024.

That decision had formally declared Dias’s resignation from his councilor mandate—a move the politician has rejected as a forced departure.

Dias filed his petition on August 21 at the central registry of the Supreme Court, invoking provisions of the organic law governing the Court (Law No. 2017-09 of January 17, 2017, as amended by Law No. 2022-16 of May 23, 2022).

The suspension opens the possibility for Dias to reclaim his seat within the council, potentially altering the composition of the body ahead of its August 27 session.

The case will be heard in open court on August 25 at 9 a.m. In its ruling, the Court noted that it “will be referred to in case of difficulty,” signaling the potential complexity of the matter given Dias’s prominence in Senegalese politics.

It should be recalled that Barthélémy Dias is still appealing the prefect’s decision to proclaim him resigned from his position in December 2024. “I have filed an appeal for abuse of power. The Dakar prefect had no legal basis for removing me from my position,” stated Dias.

And the Supreme Court has yet to address the fundamental point of disagreement (whether the prefect’s judgment is legal or not). On September 18, the Supreme Court will rule on the dismissal of Mayor Barthélémy Dias.