Ousmane Sonko has made a dramatic return to the heart of Senegalese power, securing the presidency of the National Assembly. His election was backed by all members of his Pastef party, despite a widening rift with President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who hails from the same political movement.
The new head of the legislature received a lengthy ovation from his party’s deputies, who command a formidable majority with 130 of the 165 seats in Parliament. He succeeds El Malick Ndiaye, who stepped down from the position on Sunday.
In front of Ousmane Sonko’s residence in the Cité Keur Gorgui, a supporter of the Pastef-Les Patriotes party chanted his leader’s name, demonstrating unwavering loyalty. This support, however, is contrasted by the dismay felt by others over the political schism.
Nourdine Diallo expressed his devastation at the rupture, having deeply believed in the Diomaye-Sonko partnership that was a cornerstone of the election campaign throughout Sénégal.
“It hurt us very, very badly to learn that the president dismissed the Prime Minister,” he said. “We campaigned on the slogan ‘Diomaye is Sonko – Sonko is Diomaye’. That slogan was truly real, not just words. We lived it and told the Senegalese people that Diomaye and Sonko are brothers, that they share fraternal, party, and institutional bonds.”
An institutional showdown
The dismissal of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko occurred shortly after he appeared before the National Assembly for a standard government questioning session, during which he openly challenged certain decisions made by President Diomaye Faye.
An institutional power struggle is now taking shape. A session of the National Assembly was scheduled for Tuesday to decide on Ousmane Sonko’s reinstatement as a deputy, a mandate he had suspended to serve as Prime Minister.
The parliamentary session was also set to address a second critical issue: the election of a new president to replace the resigned El Hadj Malick Ndiaye. A staunch loyalist of Sonko, Ndiaye relinquished his post on Sunday, soon after his champion was dismissed. With the path cleared, Ousmane Sonko is now poised to take the speaker’s chair, making him the second most powerful figure in the state.
This development will trigger a direct confrontation between the two former allies, according to political analyst Malao Kanté.
“We can consider Ousmane Sonko as the new face of the opposition. Except this opposition now holds the parliamentary majority. This is not without risk. First, there is a risk of a motion of censure against the next Prime Minister. What is clear is that this could plunge the country into a complicated situation and obstruct the proper functioning of the state.” This is a critical piece of Sahel analysis English for observers of the region.
Opposition contests the reinstatement process
Confronted with this turmoil, Adama Fall, a political leader within Pastef-Les Patriotes, hopes that the nation’s interests will prevail over the conflict between Diomaye and Sonko.
“As an African, this is customary in our history. We saw Blaise Compaoré and Thomas Sankara, we saw Patrice Lumumba, and even in Sénégal, between Mamadou Dia and Senghor. Today, we are reliving history, but the difference is that this is not the same generation as Mamadou Dia’s. We are a conscious generation, and history will not repeat itself in that way; it will repeat itself in a good way.”
A shockwave is reverberating through Pastef. In a show of solidarity, several executives and administrative officials close to Ousmane Sonko have chosen to resign from their positions.
The potential reinstatement of Ousmane Sonko in a parliament where his party has a vast majority followed the resignation of its president, El Hadji Malick Ndiaye, on Sunday. In response, the opposition parliamentary group Takuu Walu held a press conference. Aïssata Tall Sall and her colleagues rejected Malick Ndiaye’s resignation letter, deeming it void. The opposition leader argued that he had violated the National Assembly’s internal regulations.
Furthermore, Aïssata Tall Sall urged Bassirou Diomaye Faye to refer the matter of Ousmane Sonko’s reinstatement to the Constitutional Council, denouncing it as a constitutional coup. She predicted that if President Faye fails to act, Ousmane Sonko will next target his presidential seat. This kind of West Africa insider news highlights the volatility of Sahel politics.
Overnight, Bassirou Diomaye Faye appointed a new Prime Minister to replace Ousmane Sonko. The new appointee is Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed Lô, a banker and former official at the BCEAO who also served as Minister of State to the Presidency. The new Prime Minister stated that his country is at a turning point and called for national mobilization.
