Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye launched a new party called Kiiraay, following his high-profile falling out with his erstwhile mentor and ex-Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.
Sonko leads the Pan-Africanist party Pastef, to which both men belonged and which swept Faye into the presidency in 2024.
Faye appointed Sonko prime minister immediately after becoming president, but the relationship eventually soured and culminated in Sonko's sacking in May.
The Senegalese president unveiled the new Kiiraay party, whose name is Wolof for "protection" or "shield", during a packed assembly of supporters in Dakar.
Hundreds of supporters who could not fit inside the hotel conference room waited outside in searing heat, carrying signs and wearing decorative scarves that said "Vive Diomaye".
Announcing the new party, which has the slogan "Republican Patriots", Faye said it was built on "republic, ethics, transparency, fraternity and work".
Faye essentially owes his position as president to Sonko, his onetime mentor, who would almost certainly have taken the top job had he not been barred from running in the west African country's 2024 presidential election due to a defamation conviction.
The two men fell out over disagreements on how Senegal should battle its massive public debt and other policy issues.
On May 22, Faye fired Sonko as prime minister.
Sonko's allies promptly appointed him speaker of parliament and he remains the undisputed leader of Pastef, which controls 130 of the 165 seats in Senegal's single legislative chamber.
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