Senegal’s political crisis escalated dramatically on Tuesday, May 26, after lawmakers elected recently dismissed Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko as speaker of parliament, handing the influential opposition figure a powerful new platform just days after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye removed him from office.
The stunning political comeback has intensified speculation of a deepening fracture at the top of Senegal’s leadership, raising fresh uncertainty over who truly controls power in one of West Africa’s most closely watched democracies.
Sonko secured 132 votes in the 165-seat parliament after legislators moved to reinstate him as a member of the National Assembly earlier in the day. No lawmaker voted against him, while one abstained.
Sonko, the dominant figure within the ruling Pastef party, received a prolonged standing ovation after the presiding member of the session, Ismael Diallo, announced the result. He was the sole candidate for the role.
The development has triggered fierce backlash from the opposition, with senior opposition leader Aissata Tall Sall describing the move as an “institutional coup.”
