Mise à jour : 9 mai 2012 (Rédaction initiale : 29 avril 2012 )

Sur le vif

By Decree of April 19, 2012, the Director General of the Senegalese telecommunications Regulatory authority was dismissed

http://www.thejournalofregulation.com/spip.php?article1432

The elections in Senegal bring in power a new President of the Republic. Almost immediately after, the Director General of the Autorité de Régulation des Télécommunications et des Postes (ARTP) – (Regulatory authority of telecommunications and posts) is replaced. It took the form of a Decree of April 19, 2012. The new Director General is Mr Ndongo who is Telecommunications engineer.

© thejournalofregulation

It can be considered that "the spoil system", which consists to change the heads, including in the Regulatory authority, when the power at the head of the State change, is not an infringement of democracy. This

is even less when it operates in forms (here by a Decree) and in a public way (the Decree was read in Council of Ministers and to in the press release) and when the criteria of skills are respected: the new Director General has the professional qualifications required to master the technical aspects.

This is contrasted with a more radical conception of the independence of the Regulatory Authority, especially those in which the power is dual, the Director General (or the General Secretary) was not under the direction of the President, but is rather a person with its own functions that is to related to internal organisation or relationship with government, while the President is in relation with third parties, the sector or international matters.

In such a case, the while the Director General is protected by a political mandate, which is fixed in advance which prevents to have head fixed. Both systems exist at the same time in the world, depend on the political culture of the country, and it is difficult to say that one is, in principle, preferable to the other.

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