Ousmane Sonko, the president of Senegal’s National Assembly and former prime minister, was overwhelmingly re-elected on Saturday as leader of his party, Pastef, a political victory that swiftly became a warning to his political adversaries, against the backdrop of Senegal’s current political crisis.
Delegates from national sections and the diaspora gathered in Diamniadio, near Dakar, for the party’s first congress.
At the helm of Pastef since its creation in 2014, Sonko retains his post for another six-year term.
“I measure the weight of this responsibility because Pastef is not an ordinary party in the Senegalese landscape,” he said from the podium after his election.
“Revolutions can be diverted, absorbed, or emptied of their content when they lack a clear doctrine or an organization capable of sustaining change over time. That is why this congress is historic, two years after we acceded to the highest offices,” he added.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye won the presidency in 2024 with Pastef’s support, after Sonko was barred from the presidential race.
After months of tensions, Faye dismissed Sonko from the post of prime minister on May 22. Sonko was elected president of the National Assembly a few days later.
Addressing Pastef delegates, Sonko warned against attempts to “sabotage” his party’s political project.
“No project to sabotage this revolution will succeed because the people, standing alongside Pastef, will provide the necessary guarantees so that we can finally liberate our country,” he cautioned.
Pastef’s leadership boycotted the government appointed on Monday by Faye, despite the inclusion of some members from Sonko’s party in the new ministerial list.
With 130 out of 165 seats in the National Assembly, Pastef can at any time submit a motion of no confidence to topple the government. Faye, for his part, can form a new government after a censure and will be able to dissolve the National Assembly from November 2026.
