The president of Senegal’s National Assembly and former prime minister Ousmane Sonko secured a decisive re-election over the weekend as head of his party, Pastef. This political victory quickly served as a platform to caution his political rivals amid the ongoing political crisis in the country.
Delegates from national chapters and the diaspora gathered in Diamniadio, near Dakar, for the party’s first congress.
At the helm of Pastef since its founding in 2014, Sonko retains his position for a new six-year term.
“I fully grasp the weight of this responsibility because Pastef is not an ordinary party in Senegal’s political landscape,” he declared from the podium after his election.
“Revolutions can be hijacked, absorbed, or emptied of their substance if they lack a clear doctrine or an organisation capable of sustaining change over time. That is precisely why this congress is historic, two years after we assumed the highest responsibilities,” he added.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye won the presidency with Pastef’s backing in 2024, after Ousmane Sonko was barred from the presidential race.
Following months of tension, Faye dismissed Sonko from the post of prime minister on 22 May.
Sonko was elected president of the National Assembly just days later.
Addressing Pastef delegates, Sonko warned against attempts to “sabotage” the political project his party champions.
“No plan to sabotage this revolution will succeed because the people, standing alongside Pastef, will provide the necessary guarantees so that we can finally liberate our country,” he cautioned.
Pastef’s leadership boycotted the government appointed by Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Monday, despite the presence of some party members in the new ministerial list.
With 130 of the 165 seats in the National Assembly, Pastef can at any time table a motion of no confidence to topple the government.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye, for his part, can form a new government after a censure and will be able to dissolve the National Assembly starting November 2026.
