Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is planning to set up his own political party, a coalition supporting him said, the latest evidence of a durable split with his recently ousted prime minister.
Faye has instructed senior adviser Aminata Toure to establish a task force charged with creating the party, said a statement from the pro-Faye coalition issued late on Friday.
Faye has until now been a member of the ruling Pastef party, led by Ousmane Sonko, who was prime minister until Faye ousted him in May, capping months of tensions between the two leaders.
Sonko has since become speaker of the National Assembly, where he has been pushing for constitutional reforms that would, among other things, bar a sitting president from serving as leader of a political party.
Lawmakers voted in favour of the changes last week, but Faye has decided to put them to a referendum. It is unclear when the referendum will take place.
The political upheaval is unfolding as Senegal struggles to grapple with a crisis stemming from the revelation of misreported debt under the previous government.
Both Faye and Sonko are preparing for local elections scheduled for 2027 that will show how much support each of them has across the country.
