Ousmane Sonko, Just Sacked as Senegal’s PM, Takes Parliament Speaker Role — Raising Stakes in Political Standoff

Senegal’s parliament elected Ousmane Sonko as its speaker on Monday, just days after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dismissed him from the post of prime minister. The move reshuffles the political deck in a country once seen as a beacon of stability in West Africa.

Sonko’s new role hands him a direct platform to challenge the president’s legislative agenda, especially on fiscal matters. The standoff threatens to deepen uncertainty over how the government will service public debt that has ballooned to an estimated 132% of GDP — one of the highest ratios in the region.

The rift between the former allies widened in recent months as they clashed over how to manage Senegal’s debt crisis. Faye tapped a former central banker to replace Sonko as prime minister, signaling a push for more orthodox fiscal policies ahead of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a new financing program. That program could pave the way for a debt restructuring plan — an idea Sonko has publicly opposed. As head of the largest bloc in the National Assembly, Sonko could now wield the speaker’s gavel to block Faye from rallying enough parliamentary support for his economic policies.

Investors have taken note. Senegal’s dollar-denominated bonds have slid sharply in recent sessions, as markets price in the political turmoil rattling one of the region’s traditional investment darlings. The coming weeks will test whether Faye can navigate a fragmented government without his former ally — or whether the rift deepens into a full-blown governance crisis.