In less than two years, the most celebrated duo in contemporary Senegalese politics has gone from sharing a prison cell to a power struggle at the highest levels of government. The 2024 pact isn’t dead yet, but it’s on life support. Two men who once shared the same bars, the same ideal, and the same political destiny now seem torn between two irreconcilable forces: partisan loyalty on one side, presidential authority on the other. Chronicle of a fracture foretold.
Two men, one slogan, one promise
The story begins in Macky Sall’s prisons. The Bassirou Diomaye Faye/Ousmane Sonko partnership wasn’t forged in the halls of power, but in the cells of the outgoing regime. Founding members of PASTEF—African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics, and Fraternity—they shared legal ordeals, simultaneous imprisonment, and their joint release thanks to the 2024 amnesty law. From this shared journey emerged a rare reservoir of trust, crystallized in the now-legendary campaign slogan: “Diomaye moy Sonko”—Diomaye is Sonko.
This phrase does not reflect a confusion of identities, but rather an affirmation of absolute ideological continuity. On April 2, 2024, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was triumphantly elected President of Senegal, becoming at 44 the youngest president in the country’s history. This election was made possible thanks to the support of Ousmane Sonko, barred from running by the courts, who had designated him as his substitute candidate before becoming his Prime Minister.
The Senegalese people voted for a vision as much as for individuals. Less than two years later, this project is crumbling.
The first spark: the coalition war
The first public act of the rupture occurred in the fall of 2025. The crisis stemmed from President Diomaye Faye’s decision to replace Aïda Mbodji with Aminata Touré as head of the “Diomaye President” coalition.
PASTEF’s reaction was immediate and vehement. Ousmane Sonko’s party categorically rejected the sidelining of Aïda Mbodji, a close ally of the Prime Minister, in favor of Aminata Touré—a leading political figure who had served as Minister of Justice and then Prime Minister under Macky Sall. PASTEF asserted that it shared “neither the same values nor the same principles” with her.
For Sonko and his camp, Faye not only hurt a loyal ally, he made the mistake of bringing back into the game a representative of the old system — the designated enemy of all the rhetoric of rupture carried by PASTEF for years.
A fundamental divergence, not just a matter of style
Behind the personal quarrel lies a fundamental incompatibility of visions. Sonko presents a political orientation centered on power as a lever for transformation, while Diomaye displays a more social and institutional orientation, prioritizing cohesion and legitimacy over the assertion of power. These different orientations explain not a disagreement on the ends—both share a sovereignist and pan-Africanist project—but a profound divergence on the means, the pace, and the method.
The IMF issue perfectly crystallizes this divide. After the revelation of over $11 billion in undeclared debt from the previous administration, the IMF froze a $1.8 billion financing program in 2024. Faced with restructuring proposals, Ousmane Sonko adopts a firm stance, rejecting certain measures deemed unacceptable, while Bassirou Diomaye Faye favors a more diplomatic approach, aiming to reassure the markets.
The Verbal Escalation of March 2026
While tensions had been simmering for months, they reached an unprecedented level in early March 2026. On March 1, 2026, during a live broadcast, Ousmane Sonko warned that his party, PASTEF, was ready to leave the government and join the opposition if President Bassirou Diomaye Faye deviated from the party line. His statement was a bombshell: “PASTEF has no problem returning to the opposition.”
By making PASTEF’s continued presence in the government contingent on the head of state aligning himself with the party line, Sonko implicitly challenged presidential autonomy. He went further, denouncing the summoning of party members of parliament to the presidential palace: “We promised not to turn the Palace into a party headquarters,” he reminded them, revealing a distrust of any personalization of power outside of collective control.
Diomaye’s Response: The Presidential Stance
Faced with these direct attacks, Bassirou Diomaye Faye chose to rise above the fray. In a speech delivered on March 7, 2026, the Senegalese president distanced himself from the tensions that had plagued the duo for several months: “It is now time to dedicate ourselves fully to the work. The interest of Senegal must take precedence over everything, including our personal interests. No one can shake us. We will see this through to the end.”
At the same time, President Faye presided over the closing of the revision of the “Diomaye President” coalition’s statutes, a move perceived by several observers as a major political turning point. After stepping down from the leadership of PASTEF to adopt a stance “above party politics,” he now seems to be emerging from his reserve to structure his own political space, gradually freeing himself from the shadow of his original party.
The 2029 War Has Already Begun
What is at stake today goes far beyond the current dispute. Political analysts believe the challenge now lies in building an independent political base for the president. Assane Samb does not rule out opening “Diomaye Président” to other political forces, including those from the opposition such as the PDS, the APR, or the FDR: “Failing to secure PASTEF, he will find another catalyst party to maximize his chances in the elections. The major battle lies in the lead-up to 2029.”
In the streets of Dakar, the symbolic reversal is already complete. The original slogan “Diomaye moy Sonko” has now been inverted to “Diomaye du Sonko” — Diomaye is not Sonko. Three words that, in themselves, summarize the extent of the damage done — in the wrong direction.
What Senegal Risks
Beyond the political drama, the future of the governance project is at stake. The Diomaye-Sonko duo remains very popular in Senegal, but impatience is palpable among the population, particularly among the youth who brought them to power. Their promises regarding employment, the cost of living, healthcare, education, and justice have raised high hopes that they cannot afford to disappoint.
This warning comes in an already volatile context: a latent social crisis, university tensions, and sensitive negotiations with the IMF expose the executive branch to the need for absolute consistency. The luxury of open internal conflict is one that Senegal simply cannot afford.
