May 23, 2026, 10:27 AM

Senegal's president sacks PM after months of tensions

Senegal's president sacks PM after months of tensions

TEHRAN, May 23 (MNA) – Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye sacked Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and dissolved the government on Friday after months of tensions, deepening a crisis in the debt-laden west African nation.

The shock announcement was made on state television in a decree read out by presidential aide Oumar Samba Ba, who said Faye "has ended the duties of Ousmane Sonko... and consequently those of the ministers and secretaries of state who are members of the government".

No details were provided on the appointment of a new prime minister.

Senegal is in the unusual situation of having a president who owes his position in large part to the prime minister, who would almost certainly have taken the top job had he not been barred from running in the last presidential election due to a defamation conviction.

The relationship between Faye and the charismatic Sonko, his one-time mentor, has soured in recent months.

MNA

  

News ID 244716

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