By Rebecca Yakubu Akatue, PhD
For Ghana and the rest of ECOWAS, Senegal’s stability has always mattered. As one of the bloc’s few stable democracies and a key trade and security partner, political deadlock in Dakar ripples outward. It affects regional trade routes, investor confidence, and ECOWAS’ credibility at a time when the bloc is already weakened by the exits of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
The security stakes are higher now. With the Sahel facing an expanding insurgency and military juntas in the region rejecting ECOWAS mediation, Senegal has become critical to holding the southern flank. A paralyzed Senegalese government risks weakening joint counterterrorism efforts, disrupting intelligence sharing, and emboldening armed groups seeking to push south toward coastal states like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
That stability is now under strain. In May 2026, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dissolved the government and replaced Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko with an independent technocrat. What started as a historic tandem is now a test of whether Senegal’s new leadership can govern without tearing itself apart.
Who are Faye, Sonko, and PASTEF?
PASTEF, Patriotes Africains du Sénégal pour le Travail, l’Éthique et la Fraternité, is a populist party founded by Ousmane Sonko in 2014. It built its base on youth frustration with corruption, foreign influence, and unemployment. Sonko’s fiery speeches and legal battles made him the face of the opposition to former President Macky Sall.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye was Sonko’s close ally and a tax inspector. When Sonko was barred from running in the 2024 election, PASTEF backed Faye instead. The strategy worked. Faye won in the first round on 24 March 2024, and was sworn in on 2 April 2024. A day later, he appointed Sonko as Prime Minister.
For a year, the message was unity; Faye as president, Sonko as PM, both executing the PASTEF platform of sovereignty, contract renegotiation, and anti-corruption.
The May 2026 Rupture and the Seat Question
The rupture came fast. On 23 May 2026, Faye dissolved the government and dismissed Sonko as PM. He then appointed an independent technocrat to form the next government. Faye stated that the new PM would form the cabinet in consultation with both the National Assembly and the presidency, signaling a break from PASTEF’s direct control of the executive.
At the same time, the National Assembly saw a leadership shift. The Speaker at the time was a staunch PASTEF member and close Sonko ally. That Speaker resigned, clearing the way for a new election for the head of the Assembly. On 27 May 2026, deputies voted to reinstate Sonko and elected him Speaker.
The legal dispute is about his mandate. Sonko won a seat in the Nov 2024 legislative elections but never took the oath. When he became PM on 3 April 2024, he suspended his mandate under Article 54, which prohibits holding both executive and legislative roles. The opposition argues he couldn’t suspend a seat he never occupied and should have resigned first. PASTEF argues the mandate existed once elected, and the Assembly agreed by reinstating him as Speaker.
Why it Matters Now
Senegal has a semi-presidential system. The president sets policy, but the National Assembly passes the budget and laws. With Sonko as Speaker, Faye cannot govern smoothly without at least tacit cooperation.
By replacing Sonko with an independent technocrat, Faye is trying to govern without being hostage to PASTEF’s internal power plays. But the new PM still needs the Assembly to pass budgets and laws, and Sonko now controls that calendar. The consultation process between the PM, Assembly, and presidency will determine whether this becomes a working arrangement or a standoff.
What’s at Stake
The core question is whether Senegal’s 2024 political shift was about a party or a program. If it was about PASTEF, Faye needs the party in government to deliver. If it was about the program, Faye can argue that technocrats can execute it without internal party fights.
For now, the public is watching two former allies manage a public divorce while trying to keep the country stable. The next budget vote and the handling of economic reforms will show which path wins. If deadlock sets in, Faye could face pressure to dissolve the Assembly and call early elections, a move that would turn the split into a full political showdown.
The Way Forward: A Case for Compromise
A more sustainable path would be a compromise that would bring PASTEF members back into government.
First, it reflects the political reality that PASTEF holds both the presidency, through Faye himself, and the legislative majority. Governing without the party that won both institutions creates an artificial split between mandate and execution.
Second, it gives Sonko a direct stake in the government’s success. If he’s inside the cabinet, he’s invested in delivering results rather than incentivized to oppose from the outside as Speaker.
Third, it makes governing smoother. With Sonko controlling the Assembly agenda, deadlock is almost inevitable if PASTEF is excluded from the executive. Reintegrating the party reduces friction and lets the Faye-Sonko project function as voters expected in 2024.
Conclusion
The Faye-Sonko tandem won Senegal’s election by presenting a united front. Senegal’s stability now depends less on which individual “wins” the split, and more on whether the system can accommodate both the presidency and the Assembly under one political project again. For ECOWAS and the Sahel, the cost of getting it wrong is too high.
