Sonko elected Speaker of Senegal's National Assembly
Updated 21 June 2026
On 26 May 2026, four days after being dismissed as Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko was elected Speaker of the National Assembly with 132 of 133 votes.
On Tuesday 26 May 2026, just four days after being dismissed as Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko was elected Speaker of the National Assembly with 132 of 133 votes cast, amid an opposition boycott.[1] He becomes the country’s second-ranking institutional figure after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.[1]
A power base outside the executive
Sonko returned to the top of the state by the parliamentary route within a week of being ejected from the executive. PASTEF holds 130 of 165 seats, giving him firm control of the legislative agenda.[1] On 6 June 2026 he was also elected president of PASTEF at the party’s first ordinary congress, with 583 of 583 votes.
A shift in tone
In his investiture speech, Sonko criticised the government’s “hyper-presidentialism” and said the Assembly would not be a “rubber-stamp chamber,” while pledging not to use the role to create “institutional chaos.”[2] His PASTEF party later declined to join the new government led by Ahmadou Al Aminou Lô.
See Faye vs Sonko: who really runs Senegal? and the full timeline.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Ousmane Sonko's role now?
- Since 26 May 2026 he is Speaker (president) of Senegal's National Assembly — the country's number-two institutional figure after the President — and since 6 June 2026 also president of the PASTEF party.
- Was his return to parliament challenged?
- Yes. Opposition deputies filed a challenge at the Constitutional Council, which on 17 June 2026 declared itself incompetent to rule, confirming his seat.