{"id":2000120546,"date":"2026-07-26T12:25:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T10:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000120546"},"modified":"2026-07-26T12:25:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T10:25:31","slug":"faye-launches-new-political-party-setting-up-showdown-with-sonko-in-senegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/faye-launches-new-political-party-setting-up-showdown-with-sonko-in-senegal\/","title":{"rendered":"Faye launches new political party, setting up showdown with Sonko in Senegal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Faye unveiled the Republican Patriots party on Saturday, seeking to consolidate his political base after months of growing tensions with Sonko, who helped him rise to power in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two leaders campaigned together under Pastef\u2019s banner, promising to create jobs for young people, fight corruption and secure a larger share of Senegal\u2019s oil, gas and mineral wealth for citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, their alliance began to weaken over disagreements on key policy issues, including negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a financial support programme as Senegal faces a deepening debt crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faye later dismissed Sonko as prime minister, but Sonko\u2019s political influence remained strong. Pastef retained its majority in parliament, and Sonko was subsequently elected president of the National Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new prime minister, Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo, was appointed in May, with a Cabinet formed the following month without members of Pastef after Sonko announced that his party would not participate in the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the launch of Faye\u2019s new party, several Pastef officials resigned from the party to join the president\u2019s movement, including regional leaders and members of its youth wing. Some members of the opposition Alliance for the Republic also joined Faye\u2019s camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creation of the Republican Patriots marks a new phase in Senegal\u2019s political landscape, with the two former allies expected to compete for influence in the lead-up to local elections in 2027 and the presidential race in 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faye\u2019s government has faced mounting challenges since taking office, particularly after authorities discovered that the previous administration had underreported billions of dollars in public borrowing, worsening the country\u2019s debt situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The emerging rivalry between Faye and Sonko could reshape Senegal\u2019s political future as both leaders seek to consolidate their support bases ahead of future elections, including the 2029 presidential race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye (left) and former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. Faye has launched his own political party, formalising a split with former ally and ruling Pastef party leader Ousmane Sonko.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senegal\u2019s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has launched his own political party, formalising a split with former ally and ruling Pastef party leader Ousmane Sonko as the two prepare for what could become a major political rivalry ahead of the 2029 presidential election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000120547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[151],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000120546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-48","tag-editors-choice","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000120547,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/IMG_6754.jpeg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1260,"height":800,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/IMG_6754.jpeg","width":1260,"height":800},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/IMG_6754.jpeg","width":1260,"height":800},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/IMG_6754.jpeg","width":1260,"height":800},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/IMG_6754.jpeg","width":1260,"height":800},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/07\/IMG_6754.jpeg","width":1260,"height":800}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000120546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000120546"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000120546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000120549,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000120546\/revisions\/2000120549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000120547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000120546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000120546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000120546"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000120546"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000120546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}