Senegal’s ex-PM Sonko stages comeback as speaker of parliament days after dismissal
Senegal’s ex-PM Sonko stages comeback as speaker of parliament days after dismissal
Senegal’s visiting Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko attends a meeting with Morocco’s Prime Minister during the 15th session of the Joint High Commission for Cooperation in Rabat on January 26, 2025. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP)
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Barely a week after losing his job as Senegal’s prime minister, Ousmane Sonko has been elected as the speaker of the country’s national parliament.
Sonko snagged the position with 132 votes on Tuesday in a session boycotted by opposition lawmakers, according to AFP.
He was the sole candidate presented by PASTEF, the ruling party which controls 130 of the 165 seats in Senegal’s only legislative body.
President Bassirou Faye fired Sonko as prime minister on Friday and dissolved the entire government.
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Sonko’s forced exit was the peak of months of tension between the former allies following public disagreements on party leadership and other issues.
Days before Sonko’s removal, the former prime minister openly criticised Faye in a parliamentary session.
Faye appointed Sonko prime minister in April 2024 after winning the presidential election the previous month.
Faye’s win was owed to Sonko, his one-time mentor, who was later barred from running himself and later steered mass public appeal for the young politician.
On Monday, the president named Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed, an economist, as prime minister.
He said Mohamed has the expertise to steer Senegal out of crippling debt.
As speaker, Sonko replaces El Malick Ndiaye, a loyal supporter of Faye who resigned on Sunday.
Aissata Sall, who heads the main opposition, denounced an “institutional coup” which she said was prepared under “pressure that the majority wants to impose”.
Sall said she believed Sonko, in order to become a lawmaker again, should first have resigned as prime minister to sit even temporarily in parliament before returning to government.
