Senegal’s PASTEF political party will not participate in the country’s new government, recently ousted Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, who is the party’s president, said on Monday, raising the prospect of further political turmoil amid a daunting debt crisis. Sonko said in a post on X that he met with President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, his ally turned rival, and that points of disagreement emerged about the role of PASTEF, which holds a large parliamentary majority, within the executive branch.
Sonko insisted that PASTEF will not participate in the next government and will not be represented by any ministers, adding that he wishes the new team every success. President Faye had sacked Sonko and dissolved the government on May 22, then appointed seasoned economist Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo as his replacement.
Lawmakers rebelled against Faye’s decision last week by reinstating Sonko as a member of parliament and overwhelmingly backing him as speaker with the support of 132 lawmakers in the 165-member assembly. The upheaval, following months of mounting tensions between Faye and Sonko, comes as Senegal tries to navigate economic woes stemming from the discovery in 2024 of misreported debt by the previous government.
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The International Monetary Fund froze its $1.8 billion lending program with Senegal following the discovery of the debt, which pushed the country’s end of 2024 debt level to 132 percent of its economic output. Senegal expects to resume talks with the IMF next week and hopes to reach an agreement on key points by June 30, the finance minister said last month.
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