(FILES) Senegal Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko (L), Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye attend a ceremony after receiving the official report on the Thiaroye massacre, at the Presidential Palace in Dakar, on October 16, 2025. Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Friday sacked Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and dissolved the government after months of tensions, deepening a crisis in the debt-laden west African nation. The shock announcement was made on state television in a decree read out by presidential aide Oumar Samba Ba, who said Faye "has ended the duties of Ousmane Sonko... and consequently those of the ministers and secretaries of state who are members of the government". (Photo by PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP)
Tensions culminated on May 22, 2025, as President Bassirou Diomaye Faye terminated the mandate of his former ally and first-term Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, ending a partnership that had once united the nation.
The political alliance once symbolized by the slogan « Diomaye Moy Sonko » (« Diomaye is Sonko ») has shattered. The duo of Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko, who rose to power in April 2024 on a wave of public rejection of outgoing President Macky Sall, has now dissolved amid bitter disagreements.
Ousmane Sonko’s path to the presidency was blocked by a defamation conviction that stripped him of his civic rights. He subsequently backed Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s candidacy, likely expecting to maintain influence from behind the scenes while leading the government.
For over a decade, the two men stood united within the Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l’éthique et la fraternité (Pastef) party, never airing public disagreements. Yet, following two years in office, their relationship deteriorated sharply, culminating in today’s decisive break.
From allies to adversaries: the fallout of shared power
The collapse of this once-unbreakable partnership has sent shockwaves through Senegal’s political landscape. Once inseparable comrades-in-arms, their rupture reflects deeper fractures within the Pastef movement and raises questions about the country’s governance trajectory.
With their partnership now severed, Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko face a critical juncture. The nation watches as former allies navigate uncharted political waters, their every move scrutinized for repercussions on Senegal’s stability and future.
