Senegal: Diomaye Faye makes Sonko’s stay in office conditional on his own trust.
The Senegalese president Bassirou Diomaye Faye granted on Saturday evening, May 2, a long interview to the national press, his first major media appearance since April 2025, during which he clarified his relationship with his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and defended the country’s economic management without an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
SUMMARY
The interview, broadcast live from the Palace starting at 9 p.m. on RTS, TFM and Walfadjri TV, lasted a little over two hours. The head of state faced El Hadji Assane Gueye (Groupe Futurs Médias) and Moustapha Diop (Walfadjri), in a format moderated by Pape Alé Niang, Director General of RTS.
On the relationship at the top of the state, which has for several months fed speculation about a rivalry between the Diomaye Président coalition and Ousmane Sonko’s Pastef party, the president delivered an unambiguous speech on the primacy of the Executive. “As long as he is Prime Minister, it’s because he has my trust. If that is no longer the case, we will have a new Prime Minister,” he said.
Djomaye Faye nevertheless emphasized the depth of the personal ties that bind him to Ousmane Sonko, whom he has known for nearly fifteen years, noting that two of his children bear the first names of the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister’s mother.
Regarding Mr. Sonko’s eligibility, long contested by the old regime, he said the issue had never constituted a “fundamental problem” in his eyes. He recalled that his Prime Minister voted and was elected in November 2024. He, however, said he did not understand the emergency procedure used on 28 April by the parliamentary majority to modify Articles L29 and L30 of the Electoral Code, adopted by 128 votes.
No Break with the IMF
On the economic front, the head of state ruled out any rupture with the International Monetary Fund, whose program with Senegal has been suspended since the Diomaye Président coalition came to power in April 2024. “There is no break with the IMF; discussions are continuing. We want a new program. Now, this new program must follow our visions,” he said.
Djomaye Faye justified the suspension by the choice of transparency, the government having launched as soon as it took office an audit of public finances that revised upward the real level of debt and deficit inherited from the previous regime. “The IMF suspended because we pursued transparency,” he affirmed.
The president assured that the state was keeping its commitments despite cash-flow tensions, citing the absence of salary delays and the gradual regularization of workers’ situations. He reported domestic debt below 600 billion FCFA and indicated that fundraising was underway to clear arrears. The year 2026 was presented as a priority for public investment, subject to uncertainties related to international tensions, notably the Iranian conflict.
Fuel, political funds, justice
On fuel prices, Mr. Faye justified keeping them stable by the stabilization efforts undertaken since January, in a context of strong international volatility, not ruling out later arbitrations “if the situation requires it.” The head of state also defended the existence of the Presidency’s political funds and acknowledged the limits of their public transparency. “Political funds relate to expenditures that cannot be detailed to the general public,” he said, citing intelligence and international solidarity among their uses.
On justice, Djomaye Faye reaffirmed his line of non-interference. He recalled that he himself spent eleven months in detention between 2021 and 2024 before his election to the presidency.
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