By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Icy relations between Senegal’s leaders were brought to fore on Saturday when President Bassirou Diomaye Faye sent an indirect message to his ally, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, saying their PASTEF party is bigger than any one man.
In a televised interview, Faye warned of “excessive personalisation,” expressing concern that the party “risks being destroyed if its participants don’t change course.”
Sonko has a large followership among the country’s disaffected youth population, with whom his pan-African, anti-French rhetoric struck a chord ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
He was however disqualified from running following an order of the court and instead he supported Faye who later appointed him to serve as Prime Minister.
Their PASTEF party won outright in the first round on a promise of a profound political shake-up, vowing to fight what they said was corruption and mismanagement of public resources.
The victory came after angry demonstrators had taken to the streets in deadly protests against ex-president Macky Sall and the possibility he might seek re-election for a third term.
“The sacrifices, which resulted in deaths, injuries and imprisonments, were not made for the sake of any one man but for the very essence of the project” to change the system in Senegal, Faye said.
“We have always sought to distinguish [the people and] the project, which should be depersonalised from the leader who embodies it,” he said.
Cracks have however since emerged, including public disagreements over coalition leadership and debt restructuring talks, disagreements that rattled Senegal’s international bonds.
Following a constitutional amendment by the parliament on electoral eligibility rules last month, Sonko is expected to run for the West African nation’s presidency in the 2029 election.
Faye who sits as the leader reminded Sonko that he still holds all the power.
He said if Sonko “remains Prime Minister,” he warned, “it is because he retains my confidence. When that is no longer the case, there will be a new Prime Minister.”
