Senegal’s National Assembly has voted to reinstate former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko as a member of parliament and subsequently elected him Speaker, marking a dramatic political turnaround just days after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye removed him from government office amid an escalating power struggle between the two former allies.
The parliamentary vote on Tuesday depended a widening rift at the top of Senegal’s leadership, less than two years after both men rode a wave of political momentum into power on promises of reform and economic renewal.
President Faye had on Friday dismissed Sonko from his position and dissolved the government following months of growing tension between the pair.
A day later, he appointed economist and former regional central bank official Ahmadou Al Aminou as the new prime minister.
Sonko’s emergence as Speaker effectively places him in control of the legislature, where the ruling Pastef party holds a strong majority of 130 seats in the 165-member National Assembly.
Senegal is currently grappling with significant economic strain, with public debt estimated at about 132 per cent of GDP.
After taking office in 2024, both Faye and Sonko accused the previous administration of former president Macky Sall of concealing portions of national debt, a claim that contributed to the suspension of a $1.8 billion International Monetary Fund programme agreed in 2023.
Faye’s rise to the presidency was widely credited to Sonko, who was barred from contesting the 2024 presidential election due to a defamation conviction but remained a central political force behind the ruling movement.
However, relations between the two leaders have deteriorated sharply over disagreements on economic strategy.
President Faye has leaned toward negotiations with the IMF for a new support arrangement, while Sonko has advocated a more sovereign and domestically driven economic policy.
Sonko, who won a seat in the November 2024 legislative elections, had previously stepped aside from parliament after being appointed prime minister following Faye’s presidential victory.
His return to the chamber followed the resignation of Speaker El Malick Ndiaye, a close ally, which cleared the way for his election as head of the legislature.
Opposition figures have criticised the development, with coalition leader Aissata Tall Sall describing it as an “institutional coup” allegedly imposed under “pressure that the majority wants to impose,” further heightening political tensions in the country.
