[Entretien] Babacar Ndiaye, politologue : « Ce nouveau gouvernement a pour mission de concrétiser les promesses de PASTEF »
On September 6, 2025, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye reshuffled his cabinet, marking a turning point after 18 months of governance. In this interview with Seneweb, Babacar Ndiaye, political analyst and research director at the Wathi think tank, analyzes this reshuffle, its implications for the coalition, and the challenges ahead, amid criticism of the economy and the justice system.
What is your overall analysis of the cabinet reshuffle carried out on September 6, 2025 by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye? What, in your opinion, are the main political and strategic objectives pursued by this government reshuffle?
President Faye has been in power for almost 18 months. I think it's important to address the context in which this cabinet reshuffle is taking place. It comes just after the presentation of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko's recovery plan. It's also important to note the government of Minister Abbas Sall's desire to resign after his election as mayor of Dakar. In a much broader context, I would say that after almost 18 months in power, it's important to take a look at where we are. The opposition has criticized PASTEF's first months of governance, particularly regarding the economic and social situation.
I believe that the government has made a lot of assessments of the situation in the country. The President of the Republic and the Prime Minister have been able to assess the work done by the ministers over the past few months, and this is perhaps what ultimately led to this cabinet reshuffle.
But from my point of view, I believe that it is more of a ministerial reshuffle than a reshuffle, because basically, what has changed in this new government is at the level of the Ministry of Justice, at the level of foreign affairs with the appointment of a career diplomat, of the interior and the creation of this Secretary of State in charge of relations with the institutions, and above all government spokesperson. We have also seen restructuring at the level of certain ministries, for example we now have a Ministry of Infrastructure which is no longer linked to land and air transport. We also have a full-fledged ministry at the level of culture combined with crafts and tourism.
After 18 months of taking power, launching the Senegal 2050 plan, organizing discussions on justice and political reforms, and launching the economic recovery plan, this new government's mission is to begin implementing PASTEF's promises in a difficult economic context. The Senegalese have given the Faye-Sonko duo all the tools they need to pursue their disruptive policy in the areas of justice, the economy, employment, and social issues. The new government faces numerous challenges and must reconcile the passage of time with the strong expectations of the population. It will be judged on the changes made and the results achieved.
"The appointment of Yassine Fall to Justice is a strong signal and a turning point"
The departures of Justice Minister Ousmane Diagne and Interior Minister Jean-Baptiste Tine have sparked much commentary and controversy. How do you interpret these dismissals? Are they a sign of political disagreement or a desire to reorient the management of these key ministries?
Regarding the departures of the Minister of Justice, Mr. Ousmane Diagne, and the Minister of the Interior, I believe that the first reading to have is first to look at the profiles of those who replaced them.
At the justice level, we have Ms. Yacine Fall, who was previously Minister of African Integration and Foreign Affairs, and incidentally Vice-President of PASTEF. So, today, factually, we have a member of PASTEF at the head of the Ministry of Justice. At the Ministry of the Interior level, lawyer Cissé, a close friend of Ousmane Sonko, who succeeds General Jean-Baptiste Tine. At the level of these two sovereign positions, we now have, as one might say, "the PASTEF touch," especially at the Ministry of Justice.
What may explain this change at the level of the Ministry of Justice is all that we have heard in terms of controversies about the slowness of justice in shedding light on the numerous deaths during the demonstrations between 2021 and 2024. We have often heard the Minister of Justice, Mr. Ousmane Diagne, indicate that justice has its own pace of execution, that procedures are respected, because the latter is a former magistrate, it is his way of proceeding.
In what is also trivially called in Senegal the accountability process following the change of power, there are reports of delays in the numerous reports that criticize the former power holders. It seems that the mission of the new Minister of Justice will be to create a form of speed in these thorny issues, but it remains to be seen how, because respect for procedures must prevail.
We will have to see what Mrs. Yaine Fall can do in terms of speeding up the many ongoing procedures, because we must not forget that the work of justice takes time.
But the appointment of Ms. Fall, a member of PASTEF, is a strong signal and a turning point, as the Prime Minister has reiterated that justice is a priority sector of his government. When we look at the protocol order, Ms. Fall is first on the list of this government after Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. There is clearly the option of revitalizing the work of these sovereign ministries with profiles that are completely different from their predecessors and more "political."
Clearly, it is clear that these two appointments to these key positions, namely the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior, with the appointment of a member of PASTEF and a close associate of Ousmane Sonko, demonstrate the new dynamic in which the government is operating, which would be to trust more political profiles to move the lines in a context of strong expectations from the population regarding promises kept, particularly regarding impartial justice and serving the population.
The appointment of Mouhamadou Bamba Cissé, a lawyer close to the Prime Minister, to the Ministry of the Interior has drawn criticism, particularly regarding the risk of bias in the management of civil liberties and elections. Do you share these reservations, and what implications could this appointment have for governance and the rule of law in Senegal?
General Tine's choice escaped the usual criticism, notably from the opposition, of a partisan profile at the head of the Ministry of the Interior. Mr. Bamba Cissé is a lawyer and has distinguished himself in recent years as a staunch defender of Ousmane Sonko in various legal cases. He will find it difficult to escape criticism from the opposition for being a neutral figure in a strategic ministry.
In your question, you seem to point out the risk of bias in the management of public freedoms and also in the conduct of upcoming elections.
“Bamba Cissé’s challenges will be to combat growing insecurity in the country’s major cities and to protect public freedoms.”
I was going to say, absolutely not, because the lawyer by essence defends public freedoms, so it would be very damaging if we had a new minister who came to restrict public freedoms or show bias. We must not lose sight of the fact that PASTEF has built up a whole discourse over the last few years on the need to have a rule of law and to restore the democratic principles trampled underfoot by the former government.
From my point of view, he will have to be judged on his actions and the next election will take place in 2027 and at this level too, I believe that the maturity of the political and electoral system today has shown that during elections, the Senegalese know how to make their choices prevail over the people who want to see themselves brought to the head of local executives or to the head of the State.
It seems to me that the challenges facing this new minister will be to combat the growing insecurity in the country's major cities and to protect public freedoms. These are the urgent concerns for the Senegalese people, and certainly not the nagging questions related to the upcoming elections.
Despite speculation, Diomaye's coalition allies remained in the government, and Déthié Fall was appointed Minister of Infrastructure. How do you assess this strategy of consolidating political alliances? Does this dynamic strengthen the cohesion of the majority or does it reflect a compromise to maintain balance within the coalition?
Yes, we have a new ally joining the government, namely Déthié Fall, who will also occupy a key position, the Ministry of Infrastructure. I think we had no real doubt that he would join the government team because of his positioning and also recent events and his partnership with PASTEF, especially in the Yewwi Askan wi coalition. Déthié Fall was a candidate in the presidential election, so he was not part of the Diomaye President coalition.
“The Diomaye President coalition seems to be absent from the debates”
But we still have other allies of the presidential coalition within the government, such as Abdourahmane Diouf, who is changing ministries.
I must say that today, we really have the impression that the coalition that brought Diomaye Faye to power is really in the background. It is not necessarily in the public debate. And we must even ask ourselves questions about the dynamism of this coalition, because even when it came to going to the legislative elections, PASTEF decided to go under its banner. It was not the president's coalition that was chosen as the political framework, even though we had some members of this coalition who joined the PASTEF lists and who are now in the National Assembly. In recent months, we have instead witnessed a strengthening of the PASTEF political apparatus at the level of the hemicycle and with the establishment of a national council. The Diomaye President coalition seems to be absent from the debates.
Feminist associations have denounced the low representation of women in this new government. Does this criticism seem legitimate to you? How do you assess the gender balance in this government team, and what measures could be considered to address these concerns?
I believe that since the advent of the first Sonko government, this criticism has been made about the low presence of women in this government. This is obviously a legitimate criticism because women are active in many sectors in the country and demonstrate their managerial know-how.
We only have four women ministers in the government today. We must hope that during a future cabinet reshuffle, this criticism will be taken into account by the leaders. I believe that we have had a reshuffle at the level of this government. If we had had a cabinet reshuffle, the Prime Minister would have resigned and probably been reappointed immediately, and we would have had this phase of consultation with the various potential ministers. The executive duo would have been given the opportunity to strengthen the presence of women in this government. We will have to see this during the next reshuffle because women's associations have made a strong plea in this direction and we will see if the message has been heard.
However, there is something new in this new government: the presence of a woman, a member of PASTEF, who will occupy the position of Secretary of State in charge of relations with institutions, and above all, government spokesperson. She will be the voice of this government.
This role was assumed during these first 18 months by Minister Sarré, and I also believe that PASTEF is making a diagnosis of the need for better communication, for better explanation of the actions undertaken at the governance level, and the fact of having this spokesperson detached from a ministry as we have seen, can also allow for better communication and better explanation of the public policies undertaken for the benefit of the population.
Interview conducted by Adama Ndiaye
Commentaires (18)
Le cout de l'électricité a triplé. Le plan de redressement en marche ngen khamé ko nonou. Les senegalais vont d'avantage souffrir et ce gouvernement n'apportera aucune solutions au pays.
On les savait incompétents. Juste des populistes. Ils ont berné les naïfs. Tans pis pour eux
Des promesses faites sur la base de leur ADN: le mensonge.
J'attends de voir parce que pour l'instant c'est zéro que du bla bla bla.
Eh nos universitaires. Que des lieux communs. N'importe quel quidam aurait fait la même analyse
les mecs sont en place depuis 2 ans....donald est mort de rire....moutons zentils !!
Voici des intellectuels qui ont choissi de foutre leurs stylos et leur intelligence dans leurs sales Qs et devenir de vrais leche Qs. Ces gens ont menti aux gens,ils n avaient aucun programmme. Ils n ont change aucune institution, ils gerent avec des structures trouvees sur place. Zero changemennt, PSE bis.
Rien a foutre de l'article. Je sais rien qu'à partir du titre que l'auteur est un cireur de bottes. Je voudrais juste lui demander: le précédent gouvernement, c'était un gouvernement de quoi au juste? Pour amuser la galerie ?
Ils avaient promis de supprimer les caisses noires Aujourd'hui les caisses noires 11 milliards pour Diomaye et 9 milliards pour Sonko sont la plus grande arnaque parmi tant d'autres.
Juste à cause de cela Pasteef et moi c'est finito. Je ne suis pas dans la partialité mais dans la vérité. Tu fais le contraire de ce que tu m'avais promis. Je te barre de ma vie quelque soit ce mon amour pour toi.
Wor ak fén je gobe pas.
Il y a des soi disant experts qui feraient mieux de se taire
Leur propos n’a rien de scientifique, que des bavardages de grand place
Et beaucoup usurpent leurs qualités
Ce politologue veut diviser le parti pastef et la nation qui comme les sénégalais le savent ont voté largement SONKO moye diomaye sans hésitation donc babacar ndiaye politologue ne sème pas la zizanie
Politologue, quel métier !!!!!!!!!!
C'est un régime incompétent dépensier haineux poisseux aventurier sans foi ni loi.
De vrais thiounés menteurs et manipulateurs. Leur gourou menteur international peine à fournir des preuves de falsifications de chiffres depuis septembre 2024. Le FMI réclame les preuves sachant qu'il n'en a pas. Il est tombé dans son propre piège.
Il avait menti de la même manière sur les 29 milliards du Prodac, sur les 6000 milliards d'Aliou Sall et sur les 49 milliards de Mamour Diallo et les 1000 milliards trouvés dans un compte bancaire. En plus l'affaire Sweet Beauté où il a transformé la victime Adji Sarr en coupable.
Le karma va s'abattre sur lui pour tout le mal qu'il a fait aux gens. Dieu ne dort pas. Il va tout payé sur terre. Ce régime va échouer dans tout.
2 piges de gourou et zéro...2050 c'est demain
bla bla rek ces soit disant intellectuel
c'est quoi politologue
ils n'apportent aucune valeur ajoutée
juste pérorer
Sachez apprécier une analyse par son objectivité et le caractère d'equidistance de son auteur. Les critiques raccourcies teintées de populisme n'elevent pas le débat d'idées. C est dommage que messieurs les survivants de l'ancien système vous continuez les agitations inutiles mais le pays continue sa marche malgré l'héritage d'une situation de spoliation financière
Et quelle était la mission de l'ancien gouvernemenr? Doyna war
Franchement j'avais voté Pastef mais c'est regrettable. Le pays est en profonde crise. Tout est cher au Sénégal surtout à Dakar. Pitié de nous c'est trop dur en toute franchise.
Sonko a supprimé les bourses familiales et a versé cet argent dans sa caisse noire.
Pourtant il avait promis de supprimer les caisses noires haraam.
Quel traître ce gar!
Politologue son oeil, il apporte quoi au pays, bavardages rek
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