Congrès PASTEF: Ce qu’il faut retenir du discours doctrinal et de la feuille de route d'Ousmane Sonko
Twelve years after the movement's creation in January 2014 in a hall at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Pastef-Les Patriotes reached a historic milestone this Saturday during its first ordinary congress in Diamniadio. Elected unanimously and in an unprecedented move to the party's official presidency, Ousmane Sonko delivered a keynote address. Interweaving historical references, a strong defense of the government's record, internal reminders of party discipline, and a theoretical framework for the "popular bloc," the leader of Les Patriotes outlined the roadmap for a "revolutionary party" determined to bring about lasting change in Senegal.
This first ordinary congress marks a major institutional turning point for the sovereignist party. Since its founding, the party had never held an ordinary assembly to formally elect its leadership according to its new internal rules. Mandated by a decision of the National Council on March 15, 2026, the party's High Authority for Regulation and Ethics (HAREP) oversaw a call for nominations open to all members. At the end of the process, only Ousmane Sonko's candidacy was deemed admissible.
To validate this momentum, the party tallied the votes from its decentralized structures. The 553 national sections, as well as the 36 recognized diaspora sections, held general assemblies to elect their delegates. The official reports showed absolute unanimity in favor of the party's founder, although a blank ballot was made available in accordance with democratic principles. This election thus legitimizes Ousmane Sonko's status as the first elected president in Pastef's history.
The memory of the resistance: "Hope does not dissolve"
Backed by the grassroots, Ousmane Sonko spoke at length about the party's recent history, marked by arrests, exile, legal proceedings, and the administrative dissolution of Pastef. These emotionally charged reminders served to commend the resilience of activists in neighborhoods, universities, and online spaces. Referring to the lifting of the dissolution in 2024, he reiterated a phrase that has become the symbol of this congress: "You can dissolve a party on paper, but you cannot dissolve hope."
The Pastef party leader attributed the 2024 electoral victories not to a series of coincidences, but to years of sacrifice. Quoting Thomas Sankara, he recalled that a conscious and organized people constitutes an invincible historical force. Paying tribute to the youth, he asserted that between 2021 and 2024, Senegal underwent a transformation where "the people ceased to be a mere electorate and became an active political force."
"Change the system rather than the people"
On the subject of public management, Ousmane Sonko vigorously defended the government's actions since the change of power. While acknowledging the daily struggles of Senegalese citizens, he criticized the particularly burdensome budgetary and financial legacy. He highlighted the ongoing efforts to improve transparency, combat corruption, streamline spending, and renegotiate mining, oil, and gas contracts so that resources finally benefit the people.
Returning to the party's core principles, he firmly rejected any notion of continuity with the old model: "We did not fight to replace men with other men while leaving the system intact." The objective remains the dismantling of the postcolonial state mechanisms in favor of a model based on labor and social justice.
Internal warnings: Against careerism and opportunism
The most political segment of the speech took the form of an uncompromising internal refocusing. Ousmane Sonko firmly warned against the risks of bourgeoisification and disconnection from power, cautioning that "the tendency to distance oneself from the people cannot thrive." He emphasized at length that the project refuses to serve as a springboard for individual ambitions: "Our revolution is not based on individual trajectories," adding that "anything outside this foundation cannot in any way represent the Patriots."
The party leader contrasted these individual transgressions with the virtuous conduct of certain directors general and state officials who remained faithful to republican doctrine despite pressure. "We have no right to turn the revolution into a career," he declared, praising "those directors general who preferred to stay true to the party line rather than compromise themselves." For him, the value of a leader is measured by their fidelity to ideals, not by their institutional privileges.
The doctrine of the "popular bloc" and sovereignty
Projecting the party into the future, the re-elected president warned his supporters: “People can seize power without managing to transform the state.” To achieve this transformation, he theorized the need to build and consolidate a “popular bloc,” a social alliance encompassing youth, workers, farmers, intellectuals, the diaspora, and the country’s spiritual traditions. He redefined Pastef as a grassroots organization: “Our party is a mass party. It is not a television party. It is not a social media party.”
Conceptually, he reiterated that "sovereignty is not decreed, it is organized." This sovereignty must link the economy to social justice, while remaining rooted in a militant Pan-Africanism. Claiming the intellectual legacy of Cheikh Anta Diop, Amílcar Cabral, Kwame Nkrumah, and Mamadou Dia, Sonko emphasized that "a fragmented Africa remains vulnerable" and advocated for a strong connection to the Global South in the face of global economic exploitation.
The congress concluded with an urgent appeal for internal discipline and ongoing intellectual training of activists, a prerequisite for avoiding the bureaucratization of the party and achieving the systemic break promised to the Senegalese people.
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