Senegal President Diomaye Faye names new cabinet as Sonko's party boycotts

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye appointed a new 30‑member government on 1 June 2024, leaving out the ruling PASTEF party after dismissing former prime minister Ousmane Sonko. The cabinet, led by Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo, retains key figures such as Finance Minister Cheikh Diba, whose portfolio now also includes the economy ministry, as Senegal negotiates a stalled IMF programme.

Sonko announced that PASTEF will not take any ministerial posts, warning that the party could use its parliamentary majority to bring down the government and potentially block the IMF deal. He also lodged a constitutional challenge to his reinstatement as an MP and to his election as speaker of the National Assembly. The dispute has heightened fears of political deadlock amid a debt crisis that has pushed Senegal’s debt‑to‑GDP ratio above 130 %.

Additional tensions stem from Sonko’s public account of his removal as prime minister, blaming President Faye for the split and asserting that the president initiated the dismissal. Within PASTEF, internal disputes have arisen over the status of party members who were named to the cabinet, leading to disciplinary actions and further fragmentation of the ruling coalition.