Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has launched an ambitious political mobilisation drive, using a weekend of intense meetings to position his party Pastef at the centre of the battle for the 2027 local elections and beyond.

Behind closed doors, Sonko first gathered leaders of his Alliance patriotique pour le travail et l’éthique coalition, a structure that mirrors President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s own political vehicle. The duplication of alliances around the country’s two most powerful figures is fuelling talk in Dakar of an emerging rivalry inside the governing camp, even as both men publicly insist on unity.

The weekend’s main announcement came from Pastef’s national council, which Sonko convened to unveil the party’s first congress since its creation in 2014. The gathering, set for June 6, is billed by party officials as a decisive moment to formalise Pastef’s internal rules, clarify its ideological line and cement its transformation from protest movement to governing force.

To underpin that shift, Pastef is launching a vast membership campaign. A dedicated commission will manage the sale of party cards, with prices set at 1,000 CFA francs in Senegal and higher rates for the diaspora. The objective is to reach one million members, a figure that would give Sonko one of the largest organised bases in the country.

The strategy hinges on what the party calls “openness to allies” allowing sympathisers and local notables to join without fully embracing Pastef’s militant culture. By courting mayors, councillors and community leaders, Sonko aims to weave a nationwide network capable of influencing municipal races in 2027 and laying the groundwork for the 2029 presidential contest.

Addressing activists, Sonko urged them to “recruit mayors” and intensify grassroots work in neighbourhoods and villages. He framed the coming years as a test of Pastef’s ability to govern while expanding, insisting that holding the prime minister’s office would not slow his political project.

He has also moved to quash speculation that he might step down to focus solely on party building. In a message summarising his weekend activities, Sonko declared that “the steamroller is in motion” signalling that he intends to wield both state power and party machinery as he reshapes Senegal’s political landscape.