Ruptly

'New consciousness was born' - Sonko re-elected as PASTEF leader amid ongoing feud with President Faye

"Ousmane Sonko was re-elected unopposed as president of PASTEF-Les Patriotes for a six-year term during the party's first extraordinary congress in Diamniadio on Saturday. Footage from the congress hall shows Sonko greeting delegates and supporters as the venue fills with party members from across Senegal. "From 2021 to 2024, something profound happened in our country: a new consciousness was born. The people ceased to be a mere electorate and became an active political subject," Sonko told the audience. "This moment marks the conscious entry of a people into history, a popular breakthrough that the great African liberation struggles have always carried at the heart of their hopes," he added. The congress brought together senior party figures and delegates from across the country as PASTEF seeks to strengthen its internal structures and prepare for future electoral contests amid a political dispute between Sonko and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. "The final stage is 2029, especially since in 2029, together with the Senegalese people, we intend to elect Ousmane Sonko to lead this country to complete the revolution we achieved in 2024," said Amadou Moustapha Ndieck Sarre, the president of Congress Scientific Committee. PASTEF - Les Patriotes, which helped bring President Faye to power in 2024, has faced internal political pressure in recent months over its relationship with state institutions. On June 1, Sonko announced that PASTEF would not take part in a new government formed by Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo. However, Lo's newly appointed cabinet included at least three PASTEF members. Sonko was elected Speaker of the National Assembly on May 26, shortly after being removed from the post of Prime Minister by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on May 22. Reports also indicate that on June 1, Faye appointed a new government without PASTEF's formal participation."