Senegal President Faye Forms New Cabinet Amid Pastef Boycott and IMF Debt Talks

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal appointed a 30‑member cabinet on Monday, with Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed Lô named prime minister. The new government was announced without the support of the ruling Pastef party, whose leader Ousmane Sonko declared the party would not take part in the cabinet.

Five Pastef members nonetheless accepted ministerial posts, breaking party orders, while the party’s executive considers disciplinary action. Sonko, recently elected president of the National Assembly, now controls a large parliamentary majority and can block the president’s agenda.

The political deadlock coincides with a severe fiscal crisis. An IMF $1.8 billion lending programme was frozen after the 2024 debt figures were found to be misreported, pushing Senegal’s debt to 132 % of GDP. Finance Minister Cheikh Diba’s portfolio was expanded to include the economy ministry as talks with the IMF resume, aiming for an agreement by the end of June.