Sénégal’s Constitutional Council has declared itself “incompetent” to adjudicate an opposition appeal that contested the reinstatement of former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko to the National Assembly, prior to his election as Speaker on May 26.

Just days after his dismissal from the prime ministerial post, Ousmane Sonko, the influential leader of the Pastef party – which commands a substantial parliamentary majority – was readmitted to the Assembly before being elected to the Speakership.

No further recourse for the opposition

His election sparked immediate objections from the opposition, who argued that his reintegration into the legislative body constituted a breach of internal rules and denounced it as an “institutional coup d’état.”

With the Constitutional Council’s ruling, no additional legal avenues remain open for the opposition. After being barred from contesting the March 2024 presidential election, Ousmane Sonko assumed the role of Prime Minister in April 2024, following the presidential victory of his close ally, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

As the head of the Pastef party list, the former Prime Minister secured 130 out of 165 parliamentary seats in the November 2024 legislative elections. However, he had previously relinquished his parliamentary mandate to retain his position as head of government.

“We will not associate ourselves with this masquerade”

The opposition maintained that for Sonko to legitimately reclaim his deputy seat today, he should have, at the time, first resigned from his Prime Minister duties to serve, even temporarily, in the National Assembly before returning to the government. Opposition deputy Abdou Mbow stated in late April, “The parliamentary majority has installed someone, Ousmane Sonko, who has already lost his mandate as a deputy and cannot regain it. We will not associate ourselves with this masquerade.” Nevertheless, following the Constitutional Council’s decision, the Pastef leader retains his position at the helm of the National Assembly, from which he could potentially wield significant counter-power against President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, his erstwhile ally with whom a clear political divergence has now emerged.