The appointment of new magistrates to the Constitutional Council and the Saint-Louis Court of Appeal marks a significant shift in Sénégal’s political landscape. According to Mamadou Wane, a seasoned political analyst, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is implementing a covert strategy to revive the neocolonial order and eliminate Ousmane Sonko’s political influence ahead of 2029. This calculated move, however, is likely to face strong resistance from a politically aware Senegalese population and a highly mobilized majority party that has never been more united.

Wane argues that the President’s administration could attempt to block Sonko’s 2029 presidential bid by leveraging judicial institutions, particularly through the appointment of key figures tied to the previous regime. Yet, such a maneuver is doomed to fail, he contends, as it overlooks the Senegalese people’s proven ability to thwart political exclusion. Sonko’s enduring popular support, which has repeatedly prevented his definitive exclusion in past elections, underscores this point.

On July 13, 2023, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye issued a decree appointing magistrate Ousmane Diagne as president of the Constitutional Council, succeeding the late Mamadou Badio Camara. Days earlier, the head of state appointed former prosecutor Serigne Bassirou Guèye as Attorney General at the Saint-Louis Court of Appeal—a decision met with widespread surprise.

Both appointees have contentious histories with Ousmane Sonko. While Diagne’s disagreements with the PASTEF leader centered on delays in auditing state accounts and reluctance to prosecute those responsible for crimes committed between 2012 and 2024, Guèye’s relationship with Sonko was openly hostile. Sonko has repeatedly accused Guèye of falsifying a gendarmerie investigation report during his tenure as prosecutor to fabricate a political conspiracy against him.

Mamadou Wane refrains from passing premature judgment on Diagne but is unequivocal about Guèye: “Once a magistrate resorts to fabricating evidence to undermine a political opponent, their credibility—and right to serve—is irreparably damaged.”

The specter of neocolonial restoration

Wane describes the current political climate as a deliberate attempt to restore the old order. He views the recent judicial appointments as part of a broader strategy by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye to consolidate a centrist political force by aligning with former allies of the ousted regime. “What we’re witnessing is revisionism in its purest form—a push to revive the neocolonial system,” he explains. “The divide is now clear: one side seeks to restore foreign dominance, while the other fights for sovereignty, patriotism, and democratic revolution.”

He cautions the administration against underestimating the Senegalese people’s resolve: “Those who believe they can politically erase Ousmane Sonko are suffering from political shortsightedness. The Senegalese people have a long history of resistance. Diomaye and his team owe their current position to mass mobilization—not to the dissolution of institutions or the fabrication of charges against elected officials.”

The PASTEF’s unshaken momentum

For Wane, the PASTEF’s surge in membership sales is a clear indicator of its grassroots strength. “No other party matches PASTEF in organization, dynamism, or leadership. Ousmane Sonko’s influence remains unmatched,” he asserts. The political scientist highlights the Senegalese public’s irreversible democratic maturity, forged through the 2000 and 2012 political transitions and solidified during the intense protests of 2021–2024. “In March 2021, the people didn’t just resist for days—they held firm for nearly three years. They’ve learned how to challenge entrenched power, regardless of the regime’s tools of control.”

This collective memory, he argues, renders any attempt to sideline Sonko politically a futile endeavor from the outset.