Senegal minister slams Sonko: ‘we don’t need a fake guide’

Reacting to the debate on constitutional revision during the press conference of the Diomaye Président coalition, Minister Abdourahmane Diouf stressed that no one will be able to destabilise Senegal as long as Bassirou Diomaye Faye remains head of state. He recalled that in 2024, the president had already provided guarantees to preserve institutional stability and social peace.

The minister also revisited the 2024 electoral process, noting that Ousmane Sonko had initially favoured postponing the presidential election, before eventually backing Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s candidacy during the campaign. According to Abdourahmane Diouf, the current president of the National Assembly is now straying from that dynamic, accusing him of having ‘betrayed’ the head of state and engaging in ‘political manipulation’ within the ongoing institutional reforms.

Abdourahmane Diouf further pointed out that previous presidents, despite commanding parliamentary majorities, had not used their position to amend the constitution in the manner now proposed. In his view, had such changes been made earlier, today’s political actors would simply be unable to defend the reforms they are currently advancing.

The minister was particularly aggressive toward National Assembly President Ousmane Sonko, reminding him that he had once presented himself as the ‘guardian of the revolution’—a stance Diouf deems incompatible with his current responsibilities at the head of the National Assembly. ‘We have no use for a fake guide…’ he said.