Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko unveils a cupboard dominated by his celebration officers – Model Slux

A authorities of “rupture.” That is how Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko offered his new, streamlined cupboard on the night of Friday, April 5. It consists of 25 ministers and 5 secretaries of state, virtually half of them from the ranks of his political celebration, the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF). “This can be a authorities that embodies the venture [of Bassirou Diomaye Faye], a systemic transformation the Senegalese folks voted for on March 24, 2024, by way of a first-round election with 54.28% of the vote,” Sonko mentioned of the president-elect.

The primary shock comes from the appointment of two army officers to regalian posts: Normal Birame Diop, former chief of the protection workers, has been positioned on the head of the armed forces, whereas Normal Jean-Baptiste Tine, former prime commander of the nationwide gendarmerie, has been named inside minister. “Members of the army aren’t political, they’re above the fray,” mentioned analyst Abdou Khadre Lô, for whom these appointments mirror the brand new authorities’s need to entrust key ministries to figures embodying a type of political neutrality. This was beforehand seen in 2000 when a basic was appointed to the Inside Ministry to prepare the presidential election, which led to Senegal’s first peaceable transition of energy.

The brand new Justice Minister Ousmane Diagne, previously a public prosecutor on the Dakar Court docket of Attraction and recognized for being critical, is anticipated to be much less biased than his predecessor throughout Macky Sall’s closing time period.

‘No actual sharing of the cake’

Along with these appointments, a big place is given to officers from PASTEF, a celebration created in 2014 that has by no means exercised energy earlier than. In all, 13 members of the federal government are from the motion, together with a number of heavyweights. Amongst them, Birame Souleye Diop, who has chaired the parliamentary group of the primary opposition coalition, Yewwi Askan Wi, since September 2022, has been appointed to the Ministry of Vitality, Petroleum and Mines. This appointment is especially vital as Senegal prepares to turn out to be a hydrocarbon-producing nation in 2024.

Yacine Fall, PASTEF vp accountable for worldwide relations, who has labored on the United Nations, has inherited the Ministry of African Integration and Overseas Affairs. She is certainly one of 4 girls on this overwhelmingly male govt department. There have been between seven and eight girls in earlier governments.

“There is no actual sharing of the cake. A lot of PASTEF’s historic gamers aren’t within the authorities. Nor are sure allies, reminiscent of former Prime Minister Aminata Touré or senior determine Habib Sy, who campaigned in favor of Bassirou Diomaye Faye,” identified Lô, who sees this as a “actual rupture.”

Some survivors from the earlier time period have nonetheless discovered their place within the authorities, reminiscent of Serigne Guèye Diop, minister of business and commerce, who was a detailed adviser to Sall. On the night he was sworn in, Faye selected Mary Teuw Niane, a former schooling minister who went over to the opposition in 2019, as his cupboard director.

Restricted risk-taking

Oumar Samba Ba, secretary basic of the presidency throughout the earlier time period of workplace, has been reappointed. “We made this selection to make sure the continuity of the State. For the reason that first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, senior civil servants who aren’t members of political events have at all times had this mission, which has ensured the soundness of our nation. They’re above partisan pursuits,” defined an adviser to Faye.

“There’s this need to not take too many dangers in order to not frustrate allies or leap into the unknown, by providing positions to folks from the previous regime. It is a cautious authorities,” mentioned political scientist Jean-Charles Biagui, who nonetheless famous “the hassle to place ahead new faces,” notably by way of the appointment of specialists reminiscent of Fatou Diouf, a lecturer and researcher specializing in maritime actions who will head the Ministry of Fisheries.

Abdourahmane Sarr, a specialist in financial points who has labored on the Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF), has been appointed as financial minister. This place will probably be all of the extra scrutinized as Faye has pledged to hurry up the exit from the CFA franc, the widespread foreign money of most French-speaking West African international locations, inherited from colonial occasions.

It stays to be seen how the president-elect and his mentor – now prime minister – will share energy. The pairing is unprecedented: Sonko, the primary opposition chief however excluded from the presidential election, designated Faye as his substitute candidate. Will this affect be mirrored sooner or later workings of the manager department? “The submit of prime minister is a conflict-ridden and precarious place,” warned Ogo Seck, professor of political science on the Université Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, stressing that “there cannot be two roosters in the identical henhouse.”