Senegal’s President Diomaye Faye Appoints Ally, Sonko As Prime Minister
Senegal’s new president, Diomaye Faye has appointed firebrand politician and key backer, Ousmane Sonko, to serve as prime minister in his first act as the West African nation’s leader.
Faye made this known shortly after he was inaugurated into office on Tuesday, pledging systemic change after years of deadly turmoil under his predecessor, Macky Sall, a political opponent of Sonko.
After his appointment, Sonko said he would approve Faye with a full list of proposed ministerial appointments.
“There will be no question of leaving him (Faye) alone to assume this heavy responsibility”, Sonko said.
Faye took the presidential oath in front of hundreds of officials and several African heads of state at an exhibition center in the new town of Diamniadio, near the capital, Dakar.
Faye, 44, has never previously held elected office. He swept to a first-round victory on a promise of radical reform just 10 days after being released from prison.
Lena Sene, an economist based in Dakar, told Al Jazeera that Faye faces a “very difficult” challenge as president.
“You cannot change an entire administration in one day. He understands that he has to put systems in place to fight corruption. He is ready for that,” she said.
Sonko, 49, was at the center of a two-year standoff with the state that triggered bouts of deadly unrest.
Popular among Senegal’s youth, he was disqualified from running in the March 24 presidential race due to a defamation conviction and picked Faye as his replacement on the presidential ballot. He denied any wrongdoing.
Campaigning jointly under the slogan “Diomaye is Sonko,” Sonko urged supporters to vote for his top lieutenant, Faye, who ultimately won with more than 54 percent of the vote in the first round.
