Sonko Accuses Diomaye of Tampering and Demands Promulgation Without Referendum: Anatomy of an About-Face

Before a charged chamber, the President of the National Assembly retraced months of collective work on the constitutional text and denounced an attempt at confiscation by the head of state. Beyond the institutional showdown, it is the trajectory of one man — Bassirou Diomaye Faye — that the speech lays bare.

Two years ago, the man entering the Palace swore he would remain "above the fray." On his own initiative, without consulting anyone, Bassirou Diomaye Faye resigned as Secretary-General of Pastef — a gesture presented at the time as a clean break between the state and the party. The promise was unambiguous: a president as arbiter, detached from partisan interests, exemplary even in stripping away his own powers.

On Monday, from the Assembly rostrum, Ousmane Sonko posed the uncomfortable question. "Two years later, he no longer wants to be above the fray. What's the problem?" Between those two moments, something changed — and the President of the Assembly, video evidence in hand, set out to demonstrate it point by point.