Senegal President Faye Launches New Party After Fallout With Ex-PM Sonko

Senegal President Faye Launches New Party After Fallout With Ex-PM Sonko

Senegal’s president founded a new party, Kiiraay, on Saturday, following a high-profile feud with his former mentor and ex-prime minister, Ousmane Sonko.

Sonko leads Pastef, the Pan-Africanist party to which both men belonged and which elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye in 2024.

Faye nominated Sonko prime minister shortly after becoming president, but the relationship ultimately deteriorated, culminating in Sonko’s dismissal in May.

During a crowded assembly of supporters in Dakar, Faye introduced the new Kiiraay party, which means “protection” or “shield” in Wolof.

🇸🇳 Au Sénégal, le Président Bassirou Diomaye Faye a lancé son parti “Kiiraay – Les Patriotes Républicains”

“Kiiraay, dans la langue Wolof, c’est ce qui protège. La devise de la formation: la Patrie d’abord!”, a-t-il affirmé.

Faye appelle les responsables de Pastef à le… pic.twitter.com/H8PeiH2MMi— Sputnik Afrique (@sputnik_afrique) July 26, 2026

Hundreds of supporters who couldn’t fit into the hotel conference room waited outside in the scorching heat, holding posters and wearing beautiful scarves that read “Vive Diomaye”.

Announcing the new party, which has the slogan “Republican Patriots”, Diomaye said it was built on “republic, ethics, transparency, fraternity and work”.

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

He and Faye campaigned on a platform of change, pledging economic transformation, social justice and a fight against corruption.

But the collapse in their relationship was reflected in the attitudes of some of Faye’s supporters.

Waiting outside the launch venue in the heat, Mamo Khady Sall, 43, who came to the assembly with a group of 15 other women from the Dakar suburb of Yeumbeul, described Faye as a “man of peace”.

Mrs Sall disliked Sonko so fiercely that she refused to even say his name.

Majority Party

“Kiiraay is the majority party in this country,” Faye told mayors, sector leaders and other high-profile members of society at Saturday’s general assembly.

🔴 SÉNÉGAL 🇸🇳: Bassirou Diomaye Faye : « J’ai compris que quand on est opposant, on n’est responsable de rien et d’aucune façon. Mais j’ai aussi compris que lorsqu’on exerce le pouvoir, on est responsable de tout, de toutes les façons », a-t-il déclaré sans citer son ancien… pic.twitter.com/9j9nzLodu9— France-AfriqueMÉDIA (@FranceAfrique23) July 25, 2026

While Kiiraay has yet to prove itself electorally, multiple Pastef officials and activists have recently announced their resignation to join the presidential camp.

Yoor Yoor, a daily newspaper close to Pastef, played down the departures on its front page Friday.

There were, it said, “a few dozen high-profile resignations” against what it said was a “tidal wave” of memberships for Pastef.

Faye’s communication team has said the new party will hold a congress after the country’s summer rainy season.

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Faye essentially owes his position as president to Sonko, his onetime mentor.

Sonko would almost certainly have taken the top job had he not been barred from running in the West African country’s 2024 presidential election due to a defamation conviction.

The two men fell out over disagreements on how Senegal should battle its massive public debt and other policy issues.

On May 22, Faye fired Sonko as prime minister.

Sonko’s allies promptly appointed him speaker of parliament and he remains the undisputed leader of Pastef, which controls 130 of the 165 seats in Senegal’s single legislative chamber.

Senegalese President Faye fires Sonko, Sonko outsmarts him and becomes Speaker of Parliament with absolute majority.

Faye would not be president without Sonko. Is his presidency cooked? https://t.co/Xtvy2znLGE— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) May 26, 2026

COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE
DU BUREAU DE L’ASSEMBLÉE NATIONALE

Le Président de l’Assemblée nationale, Monsieur Ousmane SONKO, a présidé successivement, les 17 et 23 juillet 2026, des réunions du Bureau de l’Institution parlementaire, consacrées à l’examen de plusieurs dossiers.
À… pic.twitter.com/5g4C8GFkIi— Assemblée nationale du Sénégal (@assembleesn) July 24, 2026

The National Assembly passed a bill in late June reducing the president’s power. That included barring the head of state from leading a political party or a coalition of parties.

However, the Constitutional Council struck down the measure less than two weeks later.

Senegal President Faye Launches New Party After Fallout With Ex-PM Sonko