Ousmane Sonko, president of the Pastef party and the National Assembly, announced on October 19, 2026, in Dakar, that his party’s lawmakers will not vote for the 2026 amended finance bill in its current form. Sonko argues the bill prioritizes government choices that will disproportionately burden citizens, specifically through a planned reduction of approximately 30%—from 790 to 552 billion CFA francs—in subsidies for petroleum products. He warns this cut will inevitably lead to increased prices for households. He insists Senegal has alternatives and should focus on the needs of its people, stating that voting for the bill would make them complicit in the hardships Senegalese citizens will face. The bill aligns with a recent agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $2.2 billion (approximately 1,245 billion CFA francs) over 36 months, but Sonko expresses concern it diverges from the national transformation agenda for Senegal 2050. The government acknowledges that a parliamentary deadlock could jeopardize the already tight timeline for implementing the agreed-upon fiscal measures.