Bassirou Diomaye Faye

Bassirou Diomaye Faye (born March 25, 1980, Ndiaganiao, Senegal) is a Senegalese politician and former tax inspector who became the president of Senegal in April 2024.

Faye was raised in Ndiaganiao, where he attended Marie Médiatrice Catholic School. He later attended Lycée Demba Diop in Mbour, where he graduated in 2000. Faye went on to obtain a master’s degree in law from University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar. He then attended the National School of Administration of Senegal, also in Dakar, where he trained to be a tax inspector. Faye is a practicing Muslim.

Faye met Ousmane Sonko, also a tax inspector, at work. Sonko had founded and at the time was leading a trade union, the Autonomous Union of Tax and Domain Agents, which Faye joined. In 2014 Sonko formed a political party, African Patriots of Senegal for Labor, Ethics and Fraternity (Patriotes Africains du Sénégal pour le Travail, l’Éthique et la Fraternité; PASTEF). Faye also joined PASTEF, eventually rising to the executive leadership level. In Senegal’s 2019 presidential election, Sonko, representing PASTEF, placed third, while the incumbent, Macky Sall, was reelected.

Despite losing the election, Sonko proved to be a popular opposition figure in the country. In the following years, however, he faced legal charges that he and his supporters maintained were politically motivated. He was arrested in 2021, after which Faye became secretary-general of PASTEF. In April 2023 Faye himself was arrested and jailed on charges of defaming magistrates and contempt of court, stemming from his comments about magistrates’ behavior in some of Sonko’s legal proceedings. On July 31 the government dissolved PASTEF, alleging that the party had held violent protests earlier that year and also in 2021. Nonetheless, PASTEF leadership prepared for the country’s 2024 presidential election. There were concerns that Sonko, who had since been convicted of crimes, would not be allowed to be a candidate, and plans were made to chose another senior party member to stand for the presidency. Though Faye was still in jail, he was selected, with Sonko’s support, to stand as an independent candidate in the February 25 election if Sonko was not able to do so. In January 2024 Sonko was indeed confirmed as being disqualified by the Constitutional Council.

The 2024 presidential election was not held as scheduled, however: on February 3 President Sall announced that it would be postponed, ostensibly to resolve a dispute regarding the disqualification of some presidential candidates by the Constitutional Council the previous month, though critics accused Sall of attempting to stay in office past his mandate. The announcement and subsequent approval by the National Assembly for the election to be held in December, with Sall extending his term as president in the interim, led to several protests by the opposition as well as criticism from international organizations and other countries. On February 15 the Constitutional Council ruled on the matter, canceling the postponement decree and legislation because it found that neither Sall nor the National Assembly had the authority to postpone the election. The council also urged the government to hold the election as soon as possible. On March 6 the government announced that the election would be held on March 24. Also on March 6 the National Assembly passed an amnesty law that affected jailed opposition members and protesters; under the law, Faye and Sonko were released from jail on March 14. They quickly hit the campaign trail together, and, Faye being still relatively unknown, they capitalized on Sonko’s popularity with the slogan “Doimaye mooy Sonko” (Wolof: “Diomaye is Sonko”). Faye campaigned on the promise to tackle corruption. He also said he would seek monetary reforms and renegotiate contracts for the country’s lucrative natural resources, and he criticized the current slate of Senegalese leaders. These messages were well received among younger voters, who, in a country where more than three-fifths of the population was under the age of 30, would be crucial in his pursuit of winning the election. He also picked up the support of many other political parties.

When the March 24 election was held, Faye was one of a crowded field of 19 candidates, with no clear front-runners. As such, most assumed that no one would win the requisite more than 50 percent of votes and a second round would be needed. After the polls closed, however, it quickly became apparent that Faye was on track to garner more than 50 percent of the vote, thus winning the election outright. Within 24 hours other candidates conceded the election to him on the basis of the preliminary and incomplete results. Official provisional results, released on March 27, showed that Faye won 54.28 percent of the vote. On March 29 the Constitutional Council confirmed the results and on April 2 Faye was inaugurated as the youngest president in Senegal’s history. He appointed Sonko as prime minister on the same day.

Faye and Sonko soon set to work in trying to fulfill Faye’s campaign promises, but met with resistance in the National Assembly, where their PASTEF party and its allies only held about one-third of the seats. On September 12, Faye dissolved the Assembly and called for early legislative elections in the hopes that his PASTEF party would be able to secure a majority in the body. The elections were held on November 17, 2024. PASTEF won more than three-fourths of the seats, setting the stage for Faye and Sonko to enact their legislative agenda.

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