Senegal's President Faye launches new party amid tensions with ex-ally Sonko

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal has officially launched his own political party, KIIRAAY (The Republican Patriots), marking a significant shift after months of tension with his former ally, Ousmane Sonko.

The new party's constitutive general assembly took place at the King Fahd Palace hotel in Dakar. Faye described the founding as planting a seed for a common home, intended to grow in every municipality, neighborhood, and within Senegal's diaspora.

KIIRAAY integrates the Presidential Coalition Diomaye, along with former members of Sonko's Pastef party and the Alliance for the Republic (APR), which is associated with former President Macky Sall. Faye had announced his intention to form this new party on July 3, citing a need to bolster governmental unity after his falling out with Sonko.

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Today, we found a common home. And founding is planting a seed. Founding is a task that is only carried out with those in whom we believe and with those who believe in us.

Faye, 46, owes much of his presidency to Sonko, 52. Sonko was barred from running in the March 2024 presidential elections due to a defamation conviction, paving the way for Faye, who was relatively unknown at the time, to run as an independent candidate. Both leaders were released from detention in March 2024 as part of an amnesty aimed at calming widespread protests over the election's postponement.

Faye and Sonko co-founded Pastef in 2014. The party became a major political force, particularly popular with young people, due to Sonko's "anti-system" rhetoric and criticism of French neocolonialism. Pastef was dissolved during the 2024 elections.

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Today, we entrust the Senegalese land with a new seed. This is captured in the texts you have just approved, but which will continue to be improved. Tomorrow, it will come to life in every municipality, in every neighborhood, and in all the places where our diaspora lives.