Senegalese leader launches fresh political movement

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Senegal’s president launched a new party Saturday, called Kiiraay, following his high-profile falling out with his erstwhile mentor and ex-prime minister, Ousmane Sonko.

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Sonko leads the Pan-Africanist party Pastef, to which both men belonged and which swept President Bassirou Diomaye Faye into office in 2024.

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Faye appointed Sonko prime minister immediately after becoming president, but the relationship eventually soured and culminated in Sonko’s sacking in May.

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Faye unveiled the new Kiiraay party, whose name is Wolof for “protection” or “shield”, during a packed assembly of supporters in Dakar.

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Hundreds of supporters who could not fit inside the hotel conference room waited outside in searing heat, carrying signs and wearing decorative scarves that said “Vive Diomaye”.

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Announcing the new party, which has the slogan “Republican Patriots”, Diomaye said it was built on “republic, ethics, transparency, fraternity and work”.

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– A ‘man of peace’ –

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With his pan-Africanist rhetoric, Sonko won a following among young Senegalese after a power struggle with former president Macky Sall, who ruled from 2012 to 2024.

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He and Faye campaigned on a platform of change, pledging economic transformation, social justice and a fight against corruption.

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But the collapse in their relationship was reflected in the attitudes of some of Faye’s supporters.

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Waiting outside the launch venue in the heat, Mamo Khady Sall, 43, who came to the assembly with a group of 15 other women from the Dakar suburb of Yeumbeul, described Faye as a “man of peace”.

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But she disliked Sonko so fiercely she refused to even say his name.

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Ibra Faye, an economist and financial engineer from Dakar, said he was hopeful Faye could implement some of those changes now that there is less discord in his administration.

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“After two years in power, we realize that the requested changes were simply not possible under the current setup of his party,” the 54-year-old told AFP.

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“He could not implement the policies or actions he wanted to pursue,” he added.

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– ‘Majority party’ –

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“Kiiraay is the majority party in this country”, said Faye touted mayors, sector leaders and other high-profile members of society at Saturday’s general assembly.

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While Kiiraay has yet to prove itself electorally, multiple Pastef officials and activists have recently announced their resignation to join the presidential camp.

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Yoor Yoor, a daily newspaper close to Pastef, played down the departures on its front page Friday. There were, it said “a few dozen high-profile resignations” against what it said was a “tidal wave” of memberships for Pastef.

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Faye’s communication team has said the new party will hold a congress after the country’s summer rainy season.

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Faye essentially owes his position as president to Sonko, his onetime mentor, who would almost certainly have taken the top job had he not been barred from running in the west African country’s 2024 presidential election due to a defamation conviction.

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The two men fell out over disagreements on how Senegal should battle its massive public debt and other policy issues.

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On May 22, Faye fired Sonko as prime minister.

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Sonko’s allies promptly appointed him speaker of parliament and he remains the undisputed leader of Pastef, which controls 130 of the 165 seats in Senegal’s single legislative chamber.

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The National Assembly passed a bill in late June reducing the president’s power. That included barring the head of state from leading a political party or a coalition of parties.

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However the Constitutional Council struck down the measure less than two weeks later.

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AFP

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