DAKAR, June 8– Ousmane Sonko, leader of Senegal’s majority party, the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF), has dismissed concerns over a possible political or institutional crisis in the country following his removal as prime minister.
“There is no political or institutional crisis in Senegal,” Sonko said Sunday at a mass rally in Dakar, the country’s capital. “This country needs peace, stability, and tranquility.”
Sonko, now president of the National Assembly, made the remarks one day after the first ordinary congress of PASTEF, seeking to reassure those concerned about a possible institutional crisis after his removal from the premiership and his return to parliament, where PASTEF holds 130 of the 165 seats.
He also urged his supporters not to give in to provocations from political opponents, calling on them to focus on promoting PASTEF’s ideals and mission to achieve what he described as a genuine positive transformation of the country.
On Saturday, Sonko was elected president of PASTEF for a six-year term at the party’s first ordinary congress. Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye removed Sonko as prime minister and dissolved his government on May 22, and later appointed Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo, a former senior official of the Central Bank of West African States, as the new head of government. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
