Senegal's President sacks PM, dissolves government after months of tension

Senegal President Bassirou Faye has sacked Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and dissolved the government following months of tensions and a burgeoning economic crisis.

Join the Premium Times WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.

Open in WhatsApp

This was announced in a televised address on Friday by presidential aide Oumar Ba, who accused Mr Sonko of excessive personalisation.

Mr Ba, who read a presidential decree on television, did not give any information on the appointment of a new prime minister or what is supposed to follow the development.

“Faye has ended the duties of Ousmane Sonko… and consequently those of the ministers and secretaries of state who are members of the government,” he said.

Friction between the two political allies had emerged over an increasingly visible power struggle within Senegal’s ruling Patriotes Africains du Sénégal pour le Travail, l’éthique et la Fraternité (PASTEF) party, with tensions centring on who truly controlled the government, disagreements over economic policy, and IMF negotiations.

Mr Sonko believed that President Faye was drifting away from the party’s original agenda and had previously threatened to pull PASTEF out of government and return to the opposition.

The country’s debt crisis and ongoing negotiations with the IMF also contributed to the crisis. The talks followed the IMF’s suspension of its $1.8 billion lending programme after authorities uncovered previously misreported debt figures in 2024.

Stay Ahead with Premium Times

Add as a preferred source on Google

The suspension had raised the country’s end-2024 debt burden to 132 per cent of GDP.

Before the dismissal of Mr Sonko and all the ministers, the Finance Minister, Cheikh Diba, had told parliament that talks with the IMF are expected to resume in June. He also noted that the government hoped to reach an agreement on key points by 30 June.

The minister also warned that the country’s fuel subsidy bill could exceed its 2026 budget allocation by as much as 1.15 trillion CFA francs ($2 billion) if oil prices rise to $115 per barrel. However, Mr Sonko had previously rejected his request to raise fuel prices.

Following the announcement, Mr Sonko, in a post on Facebook, said, “Alhamdulillah (praise be to God). Tonight I will sleep soundly in the Keur Gorgui neighbourhood.”

Meanwhile, the dissolution of the cabinet could affect Senegal’s chances of reaching a new agreement with the IMF and reviving its economy.

READ ALSO: Togo removes visa requirement for African nationals

They are both former tax officials who were jailed ahead of the 2024 election. Mr Sonko, a popular opposition leader during President Macky Sall’s administration, had backed Mr Faye in the election after being barred from running in a 2024 defamation ruling.

He played a crucial role in Mr Faye’s emergence as the president and was eventually appointed prime minister. With his dismissal from office, it remains unclear what his next move will be.

However, in March, the parliament approved electoral code changes that would allow him to run for president in 2029.