Ruptly
"Supporters of Ousmane Sonko-led African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF) party expressed shock and regret over his dismissal as prime minister in an interview in Dakar on Saturday. "It hurt us very, very much to know that the president dismissed the prime minister. Today, as we can say, we young people have fought, we have campaigned by saying that 'Diomaye is Sonko – Sonko is Diomaye.' This slogan was really real, it wasn't just words. We lived it," activist Nourdine Diallo stated. While for some the announcement came as completely expected, others, like PASTEF municipal councillor in the Thies-Ouest commune, Adama Fall, view it as a common occurrence. "As an African, it's the usual in our history. We saw Blaise Compaore and Thomas Sankara, we saw Patrick Lumumba, and even in Senegal, between Mamadou Dia and Senghor. Today, we are reliving history," he stated. Despite Sonko's fall from power, his supporters pledged their faith that the now-discarded prime minister would continue to serve the country. "I'm glad he's freed from the hands of the demons. He will rest and come back to us in force to lead us in this revolution that he started for the development of Senegal," activist Maimouna Goudiaby shared. "This counter-revolution led by the president of the Republic, Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, we will abolish it. We will succeed in our revolution ourselves, which is a revolution that President Ousmane Sonko started through the PASTEF party," Fall stressed. On Friday, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye issued a late-night decree dismissing Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and dissolving his government. The decree did not specify the appointment of a new prime minister or government. Sonko responded to his dismissal in a social media post, reading, "Praise be to Allah. Tonight I will sleep light-hearted in the city of Keur Gorgui." Tensions between Faye and Sonko's government had reportedly been building for months over control of the party apparatus, the course of macroeconomic policy, and the distribution of lucrative state contracts. The outgoing prime minister had previously formed an opposition alliance with Faye for the 2024 elections after he was barred from running over defamation and insurrection charges, which he denied. Faye went on to defeat then-president Macky Sall, marking a major shift in Senegal's political landscape."
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