Senegal’s parliament elects Ousmane Sonko speaker amid debt crisis

Senegal’s parliament handed Ousmane Sonko a new institutional perch on Tuesday, elevating the ousted prime minister to speaker of the National Assembly by 132 votes to one abstention. The vote gave Sonko a powerful platform inside a chamber dominated by his Pastef party and immediately turned a cabinet rupture into a broader struggle over who will define the country’s response to its debt crisis.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dismissed Sonko as prime minister on Friday and dissolved the cabinet, ending months of speculation about tension between the two men who swept to power in 2024. Sonko can now use the speakership to confront Faye from inside the legislature, where the speaker controls parliamentary proceedings and can shape the pace and direction of debate on reforms that Senegal needs to secure external financing.

The move came as Senegal wrestles with a financing squeeze after the International Monetary Fund froze a $1.8 billion lending programme when it uncovered misreported debt hidden by the previous government. The country’s end-2024 debt was put at 132% of GDP, a level that has intensified pressure on the government to explain how it will repay loans and stabilize public finances. Finance Minister Cheikh Diba told lawmakers that talks with the IMF were expected in the week of June 8 and that the government hoped to reach agreement on key points by June 30. He also warned that the fuel subsidy bill could exceed its 2026 budget allocation by as much as 1.15 trillion CFA francs, or about $2 billion, if oil prices rise to $115 per barrel.

Sonko’s return to the top of parliament was made possible after El Malick Ndiaye resigned as speaker on Sunday, saying his decision was a personal choice guided by his understanding of institutions, public responsibility and the best interests of the nation. The opposition denounced the manoeuvre as a power grab. Aissata Tall Sall called it an “institutional coup,” while Abdou Mbow said, “What is happening is a black day at the National Assembly.”

The political stakes are high because Pastef still holds a strong majority in the chamber, with 130 of 165 seats cited in one account. That dominance could help Sonko pressure the presidency on debt strategy, corruption prosecutions and the broader reform agenda that carried both men to office. It could also complicate governance if the rift hardens into open confrontation.

Sonko had already warned in March that he would consider taking Pastef out of government and returning to opposition if Faye strayed from the party’s agenda. In recent months he had publicly accused Faye of a “failure of leadership” and pushed for faster action against figures from the previous administration. Hundreds of Sonko supporters gathered outside his Dakar home after his dismissal, a sign that the split has already spilled beyond the assembly floor and into the streets.

Their alliance helped deliver Faye’s victory in the rescheduled 2024 presidential election, when he won 54% after both men had been jailed and released 10 days before the vote. Sonko was barred from running because of a defamation conviction, but last month lawmakers approved electoral code changes that could clear the way for him to seek the presidency in 2029. His new post now gives him a national stage, and Senegal’s power struggle has moved decisively into the heart of parliament.