Senegal’s Constitutional Council declared itself “incompetent” to rule on an opposition appeal challenging the reinstatement of former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko to the National Assembly before his election as its president on May 26.

Days after being dismissed from his role as Prime Minister, Sonko—charismatic leader of the Pastef party, which holds a strong majority in Parliament—was reinstated as a deputy before being elected to lead the Assembly.

No further recourse for opponents

His election as Assembly president was contested by the opposition, which argued that his reinstatement violated parliamentary procedures and denounced what they called an “institutional coup.”

With no further legal avenues available, the opposition now faces a fait accompli. Sonko, barred from running in the March 2024 presidential election, became Prime Minister in April 2024 following the victory of his ally, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in the presidential race.

As the Pastef party’s lead candidate in the November 2024 legislative elections, Sonko secured 130 of the 165 parliamentary seats but waived his mandate to remain as head of government.

“We won’t endorse this farce,” says opposition

The opposition contends that Sonko should have resigned from his Prime Ministerial post before reclaiming his deputy seat, arguing that he cannot bypass parliamentary procedures. “We won’t participate in this charade,” declared opposition lawmaker Abdou Mbow in late April. Despite the ruling, Sonko retains his position as Assembly president, where he may now exert influence as a counterbalance to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, his former ally with whom relations have since soured.