Gambiaj.com – (DAKAR, Senegal) – The political rift between Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko has widened significantly following the formation of a new government that contains no representatives from PASTEF–Les Patriotes, marking an unprecedented break between the ruling party’s founding political movement and the presidency.
The exclusion of PASTEF ministers from the newly announced cabinet comes after several days of discussions between Sonko and President Faye that ultimately ended without agreement.
According to Sonko, negotiations stalled over disagreements concerning the composition of the new government and the role that PASTEF should play within the executive branch. The PASTEF leader had reportedly sought a government structure firmly anchored around the party, a proposal that was not accepted by the president.
In a message posted on Facebook, Sonko acknowledged that while some common ground had been found, substantial differences remained.
“Areas of convergence were confirmed, but also, and above all, points of disagreement, particularly regarding the place and role of the majority within the executive apparatus,” Sonko wrote.
He further disclosed that after consulting party organs, new proposals were submitted to President Faye but failed to receive a favorable response.
“Following a feedback meeting with the party’s leadership structures, new proposals were submitted to the President of the Republic. They did not receive a favorable response. It was upon this failure that a decision was made: PASTEF will remain outside the government,” Sonko stated.
The decision formalizes what observers describe as a complete political rupture between the two leaders who rose to power together in 2024.
While excluded from the executive branch, Sonko continues to wield significant influence within the legislature, where PASTEF maintains a dominant majority and where he currently serves as President of the National Assembly.
Opposition Challenges Sonko’s Parliamentary Return
The deepening political crisis comes as opposition lawmakers have formally petitioned the Constitutional Council to invalidate Sonko’s return to the National Assembly.
The appeal, submitted on Monday, follows Sonko’s recent reinstatement as a member of parliament after his dismissal from government and his subsequent election as Speaker of the National Assembly on May 26.
In a statement addressed to the Senegalese public and the international community, the opposition deputies argued that Sonko’s return violates constitutional provisions governing incompatibility between executive and legislative offices.
The lawmakers contend that Sonko forfeited his parliamentary mandate when he chose to remain Prime Minister after being elected as a deputy in 2024.
“Appointed Prime Minister and then elected deputy in 2024, Mr. Sonko found himself, from the moment of his election, in the incompatibility situation provided for under Article 54 of the Constitution,” the statement reads.
“By choosing to retain his governmental functions, he renounced his parliamentary mandate under the Constitution and the internal rules then in force. His reinstatement, followed by his election as President of the National Assembly on 26 May 2026, constitutes a flagrant and manifest violation of the Constitution and the principle of separation of powers.”
The petition was signed by several opposition parliamentarians, including Daouda Dia, Aïssata Ousmane Diallo, Amadou Diallo, Mami Dou Daw, Salimata Diop Dieng, Mbaye Dione, Thérèse Faye, Barane Fofana, Cheikh Omar Hann, Birima Mangara, Abou Mbow, Fabineta Ndiaye, Anta Babacar Ngom, Thierno Alassane Sall, Maguette Sène, Abdoulaye Sylla, and Tafsir Thioye.
The signatories argued that only the Constitutional Council, as guardian of the Constitution and arbiter of parliamentary mandates, can prevent what they describe as a serious institutional violation from escaping judicial scrutiny.
Dispute Over Access to Parliamentary Documents
The opposition lawmakers also accused senior officials of the National Assembly of obstructing their efforts to obtain documents required to support their legal challenge.
According to the group, they were forced to resort to bailiff summonses to secure copies of Sonko’s reinstatement decree and the official minutes of the plenary session held on May 26.
They alleged that both the Secretary-General and the First Vice-President of the National Assembly refused to provide the documents when formally requested through judicial channels on June 1.
“This refusal to provide representatives of the nation with documents that are, by their nature, public and requested through a bailiff constitutes a serious obstruction of deputies’ rights and democratic transparency,” the lawmakers said.
Calling on the Constitutional Council to intervene, they urged the institution to “fully assume its role” and bring an end to what they described as a constitutional breach undermining the proper functioning of parliament.
“We reaffirm our determination to defend, through exclusively legal and peaceful means, the Constitution and Senegalese democracy. No majority, however large, is above the fundamental law of the Republic,” the opposition deputies declared.
The Constitutional Council’s eventual ruling is expected to have major implications not only for Sonko’s position at the head of the National Assembly but also for the broader balance of power between Senegal’s executive and legislative institutions amid an increasingly visible split at the summit of government.
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