# Senegal's president forms new party as political crisis continues — retained record

> Retained news record from news:semafor.

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source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:semafor)  published 2026-07-27 14:17 ingested 2026-07-28 08:22

[original source ↗](https://www.semafor.com/article/07/27/2026/senegals-president-forms-new-party-as-political-crisis-continues)

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Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye founded a new political party, deepening his split with former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and setting the stage for a reelection bid.
Faye will lead the new Kiiraay party in local and legislative polls ahead of national elections in 2029, a senior party official said. Faye and Sonko ran on the same ticket in the 2024 elections, but the alliance eroded over how the government should handle a daunting debt crisis.
Faye fired Sonko as prime minister in May, leaving Sonko to serve as the speaker of the National Assembly — a hugely influential role overseeing the parliamentary body occupied mainly by lawmakers from Sonko’s own Pastef party. The political fallout unfolded as authorities sought to navigate their way out of a financial crisis: The previous government failed to disclose billions of dollars in loans, pushing Senegal’s debt load above 130% of GDP and prompting the IMF to pause its program.
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document fetched 2026-07-28 08:22 · canonical https://semafor.com/article/07/27/2026/senegals-president-forms-new-party-as-political-crisis-continues