DAKAR, Senegal — In a dramatic shakeup of Senegal’s ruling coalition that has upended the country’s political landscape just months after a historic electoral upset, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has removed Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko from office, bringing to a head years of growing tension between the once-close political partners. The official announcement of the dismissal was delivered late Friday by government Secretary General Oumar Samba Ba during a televised address to the nation.
The falling out between Faye and Sonko comes from the same powerful ruling movement, Patriotes Africains du Sénégal pour le Travail, l’Éthique et la Fraternité, better known as Pastef. The pair worked in lockstep to oust the long-standing incumbent party in this year’s general election, making their public split one of the most surprising political developments in West Africa this year.
Per Ba’s statement, Sonko’s removal automatically triggered the resignation of all sitting cabinet members and the full dissolution of the current government. The breakdown of the Pastef alliance traces back to the turbulent lead-up to the 2024 election, when the movement mounted an aggressive challenge against the then-ruling Alliance pour la République. The campaign was fueled by widespread public anger over allegations that former President Macky Sall, who held office from 2012 to 2024, exploited a 2016 constitutional amendment to attempt extending his time in power. In a turn that defused widespread political unrest, Sall ultimately opted not to seek re-election, clearing the way for an electoral contest that ended in a resounding defeat for his party and a landslide victory for Pastef.
The path to the Pastef leadership split was set during that election cycle: Sonko, who founded and still leads the Pastef party, was barred from running for president after Senegal’s Supreme Court upheld a defamation conviction against him, and the Constitutional Court formally rejected his candidacy. The party tapped Faye, a close ally of Sonko at the time, to stand in as the Pastef presidential candidate, who went on to win the presidency.
In a brief, unflinching post on the social media platform X posted immediately after news of his dismissal broke, Sonko struck a defiant tone. “Praise be to Allah. Tonight I will sleep with a light heart in the Keur Gorgui neighborhood,” Sonko wrote.