Senegal President Faye Launches New Party, Breaks From Former Ally Sonko
- Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye formally launched his Republican Patriots party on Saturday, breaking from Pastef and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko
- The split between the two leaders deepened after Faye dismissed Sonko as prime minister earlier in 2026, though Sonko's party kept its parliamentary majority
- Senegal is battling a severe debt crisis that has made it harder for both men to deliver on 2024 campaign promises around jobs, corruption, and oil and gas revenues
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye launched the Republican Patriots party on Saturday, formally ending his political alliance with Ousmane Sonko and triggering what analysts expect to be a fierce contest for power in a country already grappling with a serious debt crisis.
According to AP, the new party makes official a split that had been widening for months between the two men, who came to power together in 2024 under the Pastef banner, which stands for Patriotes Africains du Sénégal pour le Travail, l'Éthique et la Fraternité.
Source: Twitter
Defections and a government without Pastef
In the lead-up to Saturday's launch, a wave of Pastef officials abandoned the party to align with Faye, among them several regional leaders and members of its youth wing. A number of figures from the opposition Alliance for The Republic also joined Faye's movement.
The relationship between Faye and Sonko deteriorated over disagreements on core policy questions, including how Senegal should handle negotiations with the International Monetary Fund over a loan programme as the country's debt burden deepened. Faye dismissed Sonko as prime minister earlier this year, but Sonko's Pastef retained its commanding majority in parliament, and Sonko was subsequently elected president of the National Assembly.
A new prime minister, Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo, was named in May, and a fresh Cabinet was assembled the following month. No Pastef ministers were included after Sonko announced his party would not participate in the government.
Debt crisis complicates political rivalry
Faye and Sonko had run together in 2024 on promises to generate employment for young Senegalese, stamp out corruption, and secure a greater share of revenue from the country's oil, gas, and mineral resources. Those pledges have become increasingly difficult to honour after it emerged that the previous administration had concealed billions of dollars in borrowing, leaving the country's finances in a far worse condition than publicly acknowledged.
The formation of Faye's new party sets the stage for a direct confrontation between the two former allies, one expected to play out first in local elections in 2027 and then in the campaign for the 2029 presidential race.
Source: Getty Images
Faye endorses Macky Sall's UN Secretary-General bid
Legit.ng earlier reported that Senegal's foreign ministry announced on Monday that President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has thrown his weight behind former President Macky Sall's bid to become the next United Nations secretary-general, delivering a significant endorsement from the candidate's home country.
The decision came after Faye met with Sall on Friday. Following that meeting, Faye directed his government to "fully mobilise" support for the former leader, declaring that the campaign "is now Senegal's candidacy in the service of Africa."
Source: Legit.ng
