Senegal’s parliament speaker resigns amid growing political crisis | Story

The speaker of Senegal’s parliament has announced his resignation, two days after his close friend was sacked as prime minister amid a growing political crisis.

Speaker El Malick Ndiaye’s move gives ousted Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko the chance to run for parliament where his Pastef party has a majority.

This could undermine the efforts of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who fired his former ally Sonko on Friday after months of conflict.

Ndiaye said on Facebook that his decision to resign was “a personal decision, guided by my views on institutions, social responsibility and the interests of the country”.

Faye owed his leadership mainly to Sonko, who would have taken the highest position had he not been barred from contesting in the last presidential election due to defamation.

Their Pastef party won the 2024 elections by promising political upheaval, vowing to fight corruption and take over the debt-ridden economy.

But there has been a rift between the president and prime minister for months, leaving their governing alliance uncertain.

Faye’s eviction of Sonko on Friday was a growing threat uncertainty in a country struggling with a debt crisis and ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF suspended a $1.8bn loan program following the discovery of loans that the previous government misreported, which made the country’s debt by 2024 132 percent of its gross domestic product.

Faye’s move raises the risk of further delays in reaching a new deal with the IMF.

On Friday, before Sonko’s removal, Finance Minister Cheikh Diba told parliament that the government hopes to resume talks with the IMF in the second week of June, and hopes to reach an agreement on the main points by June 30.

Sonko was a prominent opposition leader under former President Macky Sall, whose decision to delay the 2024 election led to unrest.

Both Faye and Sonko are tax officials who were arrested before the 2024 general election. He was released 10 days before the contest, which Faye won with 54 percent of the vote.

Pastef controls the National Assembly, meaning it can influence the leadership and reforms needed to support the IMF. Last month, politicians approved changes to the electoral law that could pave the way for Sonko to run for president again in 2029.