San Francisco Frontiers - Senegal parliament elects ousted PM as speaker

Sonko's rise to lead parliament comes four days after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye fired him and opposition lawmakers have condemned his reinstatement into the National Assembly as "illegal".

The high-profile political divorce between the former allies risks pitting Faye against Sonko's supporters in parliament over reforms that include taming the west African country's runaway debt.

Sonko remains the undisputed leader of Pastef, the party which controls 130 of the 165 seats in Senegal's only legislative body.

He received a long ovation after getting 132 votes, with no member voting against him and one abstaining, according to the session's presiding member Ismael Diallo. Sonko was the sole candidate for the position.

He replaces El Malick Ndiaye, a loyal supporter who resigned Sunday, paving the way for the ex-prime minister's appointment.

After being installed in his new post, Sonko promised to "not use this responsibility to orchestrate institutional chaos, to create an institutional crisis, or to cause problems for the president of the republic".

"No member of parliament with me will use this institution for a personal vendetta", Sonko said, speaking in Wolof.

But, he added, the National Assembly will not be "a rubber stamp body".

Emphasising that parliament was the source of checks and balances, he said that "we will vote for laws that are in the public interest and reject those that are not".

Faye faces the difficult task of governing and implementing reforms in a country troubled by serious economic difficulties.

- 'Institutional coup' -

Aissata Tall Sall, who heads the main opposition, denounced an "institutional coup" which she said Monday had been prepared under "pressure that the majority wants to impose".

Sall said she believed Sonko, in order to become a lawmaker again, should first have resigned as prime minister to sit even temporarily in parliament before returning to government.

Faye appointed Sonko prime minister in April 2024 just days after being elected president.

He essentially owes his position as president to Sonko, his one-time mentor who would almost certainly have taken the top job had he not been barred from the presidential election due to a defamation conviction.

With his pan-Africanist rhetoric, Sonko had gained a following among young Senegalese after a major power struggle with former president Macky Sall, who ruled from 2012 to 2024.

Under Sall, demonstrations that erupted over the possibility of him running for a third term were violently repressed.

- Economist as new PM -

On Monday, Faye named senior economist Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed Lo as prime minister, saying the new appointee had the expertise to steer Senegal out of its crippling debt.

Sonko congratulated Lo Tuesday, acknowledging the new prime minister's qualifications despite their differences of opinion on how to deal with the country's economic issues.

Sonko said his differences with Lo included topics such as the "CFA franc and management of debt" which stands at 132 percent of GDP.

How to deal with the tattered economy had also been one of Sonko's major sources of contention with Faye.

Sonko further stated that "in all democracies, the executive branch cannot appoint a government without consulting the majority".

"It is the majority in the National Assembly that must govern," he said.

J.Peterson--SFF