Gambiaj.com – (Dakar, Senegal) – A political storm is brewing in Senegal after Guy Marius Sagna, a lawmaker from the Pastef Les Patriotes parliamentary group, claimed the country currently has “a legal president and a legitimate president.” His remarks, aimed at countering criticism of Pastef’s economic recovery plan by the former ruling Alliance for the Republic (APR), have triggered strong reactions across the political spectrum.
Speaking to APR critics, Sagna accused the previous regime of orchestrating the disqualification of Pastef leader Ousmane Sonko from the presidential race.
“You illegally prevented Pastef’s president, Ousmane Sonko, from being a candidate. We bypassed your maneuvers to deprive Pastef of a contender, and because of you – you who have killed more than 80 Senegalese – we are in this situation where we have a legal president and a legitimate president,” he said.
Although Sagna did not directly name them, his comments appeared to refer to current President Bassirou Diomaye Faye as “legal” and Sonko as “legitimate” – a framing that has drawn sharp criticism, even from within Pastef’s broader support base.
In an open letter, Professor Lababa Faye of the Mouvement National des Cadres Patriotes (MONCAP), the intellectual wing of Pastef, denounced the remarks as “unfounded” and “dangerous,” urging Sagna to uphold his oath to defend the Constitution.
He stressed that the Senegalese Constitution recognizes only one president – elected by universal suffrage and validated by the Constitutional Council – and warned that creating an artificial distinction between legality and legitimacy undermines constitutional order and institutional stability. “Any attempt at duality is a threat to national unity,” Faye insisted.
Journalist Madiambal Diagne took to social media to describe the statement as an insult to the head of state, recalling past moments when Sonko branded then-President Macky Sall “illegitimate.” He questioned whether the public prosecutor would act on what he called a fresh “offense against the presidency”.
Bougar Diouf, president of the Union of Senegalese Pan-Africanists (UPS), also condemned Sagna’s comments, calling them a “serious political drift” and an “insult to popular sovereignty.” He described the remarks as a “dangerous denial of institutions” that threatens the republican order.
The controversy comes at a delicate moment for Senegal, as the government works to implement its economic recovery program while maintaining political stability after a period of intense political unrest.
