Senegal’s President fires Prime Minister after months of tension
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has dismissed Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko after months of tension.
Government Secretary General Omar Samba Ba announced the decision during a broadcast late on Friday night.
The firing ends a period of open confrontation between the two former allies of the Patriotes Africain du Senegal pour le Travail, l’Ethique et la Fraternité (Pastef) party, which defeated the former ruling party in March 2024.
Ba said that with the dismissal of the prime minister, all members of the government resigned and the government was dissolved.
The Pastef party entered office after a fierce campaign against the then-ruling party Alliance pour la République, following widespread speculation that former President Macky Sall wanted to use the 2016 constitutional change to modify his term in office.
Sall, who is expected to lead the country between 2012 and 2024, ultimately did not contest the election after violence erupted in the West African nation. Conflict: At least 16 people were killed and several injured in clashes between security forces and supporters of then-opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. Sall’s party lost the elections in the first round.
Sonko, head of the Pastef party, was barred from running after Senegal’s Supreme Court upheld a defamation conviction, and the Constitutional Court rejected his candidacy. Faye ran in Sonko’s place and Sonko was appointed Prime Minister.
“Praise be to Allah. Tonight I will sleep with a light heart in the Keur Gorgui neighbourhood,” Sonko wrote in a short post on Instagram after his dismissal.
In the last few months, there has been open conflict between the pair. Earlier this month, Faye said the former prime minister would only retain his post if he did it properly, following Sonko’s criticism. The two disagreed on key policies, including the negotiation of a loan from the International Monetary Fund.
