Basirou Diomey Faye, who will officially become Senegal’s youngest president on Tuesday, intends to retain the valuable support of his mentor Ousmane Sonko, for whom he served as a substitute candidate. How will the two men work together and what room for maneuver will there be? Responsive elements.
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The image sparked a stream of reactions: Basirou Diomey Faye, Osmane Sonko and Mackie Sel gathered in the Republic’s palace. On Thursday March 28, the future president of Senegal, accompanied by his mentor, met the outgoing head of state for a highly publicized “working meeting”. A proposal for a transfer of power which will take place on Tuesday 2 April, the end date of Mackie Sale’s mandate.
This meeting is symbolic in more ways than one. It is the first to send a message of appeasement after three years of bitter conflict between the presidential camp and PASTEF (African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity) representatives, which were dissolved by the authorities last July. Also and above all, the presence of Osman Sonko, the opposition leader, prevents him from contesting the presidential election, reminding us, if it were still necessary, that Basirou Dimaye Faye’s victory was not a one-man affair.
“Osman Sonko does not intend to rule in place of the future president, but he is obviously not going to stay back, because we must maintain popular enthusiasm around our project,” says Basirou Diomey Faye, a close adviser.
“Diomaye, it’s Osman”
Appointed as the presidential candidate by the Sonko camp in November 2023, Basirou Diomei Faye is much less known than his mentor. In order to launch the campaign and get the necessary sponsorship, the “Diomaye Faye coalition” depends on the image of a charismatic opposition leader. “To sponsor Diomaye is to sponsor Sonko”, then we can read on the poster which features the faces of the two comrades. A message that became a watchword during the campaign, chants of “Diomaye mooy Ousmane” (“Diomaye, It’s Ousmane”) were tirelessly chanted by his supporters.
On the second day of the presidential election, when the trends declare him largely in the lead, Basirou Dimaye Faye does not forget the man who made his election possible. “I want to give a special mention to one man. I think I don’t need to mention him, it is President Osmane Sonko,” he declared to the screams of his supporters, referring to his position in the pastefa.
Osmane Sonko Prime Minister?
Since Basirou Diomaye Faye’s victory, speculation has been rife that Osmane Sonko will take over power. Because the former chief tax inspector and current mayor of Ziguinchor is still regarded by his supporters as the leader of Pastef despite the dissolution of the party.
Among the reforms in the program is the overhaul of the presidency, which provides for reducing the power of the head of state by replacing the post of prime minister with the post of vice-president. But this change, which makes it possible to install a duo at the head of the country, must go through a constitutional amendment and therefore does not apply immediately.
In the meantime, Osman Sonko may be appointed Prime Minister of Basirou Dimaye Faye, who, once invested, will form a new government. A dangerous alternative to Ousmane Sonko, according to certain observers.
“The prime minister is sitting on the ejection seat and it is not said that it will be a honeymoon for the next five years”, recalled Francis Kaptinde, a lecturer at Sciences Po Paris analyzing, despite the good understanding between the two allies. In Conflict and Friends, there is “only one president’s chair”.
Also readBasirou Diomey Faye, close to Sonko, on the verge of becoming Senegal’s youngest president
Assembly elections are in sight
Others will see Osmane Sonko as the President of the National Assembly. “In the case of early legislative elections, he could be elected and thus become another personality of the state,” underlined Gilles Yabi, a Senegalese political scientist and founder of the Wathi think tank.
With a big win against government candidate Amadou Ba, Basirou Dimaye Faye must still deal with a rival coalition, Benno Bok Yakar, with a National Assembly dominated by the support of Amadou Ba. But the Constitution allows the President to dissolve the Legislative Assembly on the expiry of a period of two years after its establishment, i.e. within five months. Which will lead to early assembly elections.
“We cannot govern and implement our reforms with a hostile majority. So it is clear that we will dissolve the assembly when possible in September,” Basirou’s advisor Diomey Faye confided.
“The deadline for this election is imperative and we certainly need Osmane Sonko’s support in this campaign which will open soon,” he underlined. This support is all the more important because Basirou’s mentor Diomey Faye can control the political apparatus.
“We find it unusual that a president is head of state and head of his party at the same time, like Mackie Sale. Osama doesn’t have to choose Sonko. So he can be our party president if he wants to,” the adviser notes. notes. .
Also readSenegal: How to explain Basirou Diomay Faye’s victory in the first round?
