{"id":119649,"date":"2026-05-25T12:03:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T12:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=119649"},"modified":"2026-05-25T12:03:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T12:03:49","slug":"senegals-leadership-row-mounts-as-parliament-speaker-resigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=119649","title":{"rendered":"Senegal\u2019s leadership row mounts as parliament speaker resigns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 36 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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The Speaker of Senegal\u2019s parliament El Malick Ndiaye has resigned from his post days after the country\u2019s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye\u00a0sacked his mentor-turned-deputy, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, and dissolved the government.<\/p>\n

Some now speculate there are plans to offer the vacant speaker post to Sonko by loyalists in defiance of the president.<\/p>\n

Senegal\u2019s current crisis follows months of tension between Sonko and Faye.<\/p>\n

In a statement announcing his decision to resign as speaker on Sunday, Ndiaye said it came after \u201cdeep reflection\u201d on \u201cthe sense of statehood\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn public responsibilities as well as in the trials of national life, there are times when the interest of the country commands to prioritise integrity, discernment and sense of duty,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

MPs have now been asked to meet on Tuesday for a session aimed at bringing Sonko back into parliament and voting for a new speaker.<\/p>\n

The former prime minister, who is also the firebrand leader of the Pastef party, was at the top of its list in 2024\u2019s legislative elections. Although he was elected, he renounced his legislative duties to continue serving as prime minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am staying at the prime minister\u2019s office. I submitted my resignation letter as a member of parliament,\u201d Sonko was quoted as saying two years ago.<\/p>\n

However, following the end of his tenure in government, he looks set to return to parliament where his supporters expect him to run for the post of speaker.<\/p>\n

With the departure of Sonko and his possible rise to the summit of legislative power, analysts say Faye\u2019s power could be significantly limited without parliamentary support.<\/p>\n

Sonko\u2019s Pastef party already enjoys an absolute majority there \u2013 a factor which many say could complicate Faye\u2019s ability to introduce policies or reforms.<\/p>\n

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye (right) owes his job, in large part, to the now-sacked Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko (left)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The country now awaits the appointment of a new prime minister, but uncertainty remains over whether their approval process in parliament would be smooth. Lawmakers have up to three months to approve the nominated candidate.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the president cannot dissolve parliament until at least two years after the last election. That means any move to prematurely end the mandates of lawmakers before November this year would be considered invalid.<\/p>\n

The rift between Faye and Sonko further raises uncertainty over the political future of the debt-crippled West African nation, which is no stranger to leadership tussles.<\/p>\n

The 51-year-old ex-prime minister commands massive support across the country, especially among young people. While previously serving as a legislator in the opposition, he was renowned for fiercely challenging former President Macky Sall\u2019s policies \u2013 a trait which he also demonstrated against his boss Faye.<\/p>\n

Sonko would almost certainly have taken the top job had he not been barred from running in 2024\u2019s presidential election due to a defamation conviction.<\/p>\n

It now remains to be seen how far his political separation from Faye would go, and what that would mean for Senegal, which previously drew praise for its youthful and vibrant leadership.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Speaker of Senegal’s parliament El Malick Ndiaye has resigned from his post days after the country’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye sacked his mentor-turned-deputy, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, and dissolved the government.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1972,1910,117,761,10,9,7983,3699],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-international","category-news","category-parliament","category-politics","category-popular","category-resign","category-senegal"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}