DAKAR — Senegal is facing its most severe political rupture in years after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dismissed Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and dissolved the cabinet on Friday, shattering the alliance that swept the reformist leader to power in March 2024.
The announcement, delivered via national television, sent shockwaves through Dakar and raised fears of a direct power struggle between the president and his former mentor, whose Pastef party holds a commanding majority in parliament.
No successor to Sonko has been named. The president ordered the dissolution of the government but provided no timeline for a new administration, deepening uncertainty at a moment when Senegal faces a mounting debt crisis and soaring living costs.
Fractured Alliance
The tension between Faye and Sonko had been building for months. The two men joined forces to defeat the former ruling party’s candidate in landmark 2024 elections, with Sonko barred from running for president himself due to a defamation conviction. He instead backed Faye, who appointed him prime minister.
That alliance has now shattered. Sonko’s Pastef party issued no immediate comment, but allies of the former prime minister called the dismissal a “constitutional coup.” Senior party official Elimane Tamba said Sonko had been informed of his removal only minutes before the national broadcast.
“He governed from the presidency — now he wants total power,” Tamba told reporters in Dakar. “The president forgot that Sonko delivered this victory.”
Economic Pressure Mounting
Beyond the political drama, the dissolution comes as Senegal grapples with a debt crisis described by the International Monetary Fund as among the most acute in sub-Saharan Africa. Public debt has reached 132 percent of GDP, constraining the government’s ability to fund basic services or absorb external shocks.
Faye, who campaigned on promises to break from the old guard and tackle corruption, has struggled to deliver while maintaining the alliance with Sonko, whose combative style and radical rhetoric frequently clashed with the president’s more measured approach to governance.
International creditors are watching closely. The IMF has conditioned new financing on structural reforms, which analysts say require political stability that Friday’s announcement has now thrown into doubt.
International Concern
The African Union and regional bloc ECOWAS issued a joint statement Friday urging “calm and dialogue,” warning that any escalation could undermine Senegal’s reputation as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
“Any political vacuum at this moment is dangerous,” said Dr. Aminata Sow, a political analyst at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar. “The institutions are strong, but the actors inside them need to respect the rules.”
The streets of Dakar were reported calm on Friday evening, but supporters of Sonko gathered outside Pastef headquarters in the Hlm neighborhood, singing party songs and holding portraits of the dismissed prime minister. Some chanted “Faye is finished.”
The coming days will test whether Senegal’s democratic institutions can absorb the shock of a rupture that many hoped would never come — or whether the very alliance that changed Senegal’s political history has now become its greatest liability.Published May 25, 2026 | Amara Osei, Breaking News