Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye criticised by APR over mayor rally

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced plans to create a new political party to unite his supporters, following a meeting at the Presidential Palace on 3‑4 July where 306 (reported as up to 338) mayors from across Senegal attended. The Alliance for the Republic (APR) denounced the gathering, accusing the president of counting mayors without their consent and describing the event as a “propaganda operation” intended to fabricate a territorial majority. APR demanded that the mayors correct the record, warning Senegalese citizens against what it called a “gross political staging”. The Coordination of the Diomaye Président coalition replied that the mayors participated voluntarily, rejecting the APR’s accusations and affirming their “free, assumed and irreversible” support for the president’s project. The dispute comes amid deteriorating relations between President Faye and former prime minister Ousmane Sonko, and ongoing debates over constitutional reforms that could reshape Senegal’s political system.