DAKAR, July 6 (Reuters) – 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.
(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet, William Maclean)
