A fierce public power struggle has erupted between Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, shaking the nation’s ruling coalition and raising fundamental questions about who truly holds political authority.
The crisis ignited when President Faye unilaterally announced the removal of Aïssatou Mbodj, a key Sonko ally, as head of the “Diomaye Président” coalition that secured his 2024 election victory.
He replaced her with his own campaign coordinator, Aminata Touré.
The move directly contradicted Sonko’s public declaration days earlier that there would be “no change at the head of the coalition,” marking a deliberate challenge to the Prime Minister’s influence.
Sonko’s party declares president’s move “illegal”