Ousmane Sonko used the PASTEF congress at Dakar Arena to call for a behavioral reset and deep reform of his party’s militant mindset. He firmly banned the culture of insults that had long marked public discourse. “Nicknames, taunts and insults must no longer be part of PASTEF.” Anticipating opponents’ provocations, he demanded a posture of high responsibility and absolute respect for institutions, traditional leaders and religious authorities.
Sonko places this discipline at the heart of a strategy for structuring and electoral conquest. Downplaying recent departures of some officials as anecdotal, the PASTEF chairman set ambitious organizational goals: selling one million membership cards and deploying ten thousand local cells. By urging supporters to “crisscross the country” and drive massive voter registration, he transforms his movement into a party of order and governance focused on upcoming elections.
