Gambiaj.com – (DAKAR, Senegal) – Professor Maurice Soudieck Dione, a political scientist at the Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis, has raised concerns over what he describes as a “convoluted power dynamic” at the heart of Senegal’s current administration.
Speaking on Sud FM’s “Objection” program on Sunday, November 9, 2025, the academic was reacting to the massive rally held a day earlier by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko at the esplanade of the Léopold Sédar Senghor Stadium.
Professor Dione pointed to what he considers a structural tension between the constitutional framework of executive power and the political reality shaping governance under President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Sonko.
“Constitutionally, the President of the Republic holds all the powers, and the Prime Minister is appointed by him,” he recalled, noting that President Diomaye derives his legitimacy from a first-round victory with 53.25 percent of the vote.
However, he argued, the political configuration tells a more complex story. As leader of the parliamentary majority and chief architect of the ruling party’s political agenda, Sonko wields significant influence. “We have a prime minister who, as head of the parliamentary majority, plays a decisive role in the political landscape,” he said.
According to Professor Dione, this creates “a contradiction between the institutional structuring of power around the President of the Republic and the de facto political situation that gives a certain precedence to the Prime Minister.”
He stressed that Senegal’s political system is not a parliamentary model where the prime minister leads national policy. Instead, it is one in which the presidency remains constitutionally central. “Under these conditions, can we have a President of the Republic who inaugurates chrysanthemums and a strong prime minister? The constitutional provisions do not allow it,” he cautioned.
Looking ahead to the 2029 presidential election, Professor Dione warned that managing this delicate power balance will be critical. He noted that President Diomaye has stepped down from the leadership structures of Pastef, while the party and its political machinery appear increasingly centered around Sonko.
“Can President Diomaye position himself in 2029 without a political machine?” he asked. “Everything suggests an initial tendency toward all powers and political organizations gravitating around Pastef.”
To prevent instability, the academic urged that the relationship between the two leaders be protected and strengthened. “Preserving the Diomaye-Sonko duo is essential for maintaining stability and achieving the political project. It has become a categorical imperative in the current context,” he stressed.
With Senegal facing major economic constraints, including what he described as “an exacerbated level of debt,” Professor Dione warned that the country “cannot afford an institutional crisis at the highest level of the state.”
However, he expressed cautious optimism that any tensions could be resolved. “The contradictions are normal,” he concluded. “They should be overcome through compromises without compromising, through a sense of transcendence from both, as they have already demonstrated.”
