Abdou Diouf

Infobox President


| name=Abdou Diouf
order=2nd President of Senegal
term_start=January 1, 1981
term_end=April 1, 2000
prime_minister=Habib Thiam
predecessor=Léopold Sédar Senghor
successor=Abdoulaye Wade
birth_date=birth date and age|1935|9|7|mf=y
birth_place=Louga, Senegal
party=Socialist Party of Senegal
religion=Sunni Muslim (Maliki-Ash'ari, Tijani)

Abdou Diouf ( _wo. Abdu Juuf) (born September 7, 1935 [http://www.partisocialiste.sn/ps_vie/bioabdou.htm Biography at Socialist Party website] fr icon.] ) was the second President of Senegal, serving from 1981 to 2000. Diouf is notable both for coming to power by peaceful succession, and leaving willingly after losing the 2000 presidential election to Abdoulaye Wade. He has been the Secretary-General of La Francophonie since 2003.

Early life

Diouf was born in Louga, Senegal, a child of an Hal Pulaar mother and a Serere father. He went to primary and secondary school at the Lycée Faidherbe in Saint-Louis, and studied law at Dakar University and then at the Sorbonne, Paris. Diouf graduated in 1959. [Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 193. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.]

Political career

After graduation, Diouf returned to Senegal, where in September 1960 he was appointed Director of International Technical Cooperation. In November 1960 he became assistant of the Secretary-General of the Government, and in June 1961 he became Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defense.Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 193. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.] In 1961 he joined the Senegalese Progressive Union ("Union Progressiste Sénégalaise", UPS), which later became the Socialist Party of Senegal. In December 1961 he became Governor of the Sine-Saloum Region, serving in that position until December 1962, when he became Director of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In May 1963 he was moved to the position of Director of the Cabinet of President Léopold Senghor, where he remained until December 1965. In January 1964 he became Secretary-General of the Presidency, serving in that post until March 1968, when he became Minister of the Plan and Industry. He remained in the latter position until February 1970, when he was named Prime Minister.

Presidency

In 1970 Senghor reinstated the post of prime minister, giving it to Diouf, his protégé. Senghor trusted Diouf, Diouf had administrative experience, and also no independent power base of his own. [Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 193. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.] This was important, for Senghor's last prime minister had used the position to launch a coup d’état. On January 1, 1981, Senghor resigned in favor of Diouf, who became president of Senegal.

1983 and 1988 elections

Diouf continued the political liberalization Senghor had begun by holding elections in 1983. He allowed fourteen opposition parties to run, instead of the four Senghor had allowed. The practical effect of this was to fragment the opposition, and Diouf won with 83.5 percent of the vote. [Ungar, Africa: The People and Politics of an Emerging Continent, p. 346. Simon and Schusyer, Inc, 1978.]

In 1985, opposing parties tried to form a coalition. It was broken up on the grounds that coalitions were forbidden by the constitution. [Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 194. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.] Also in 1985, Abdoulaye Wade, Diouf's main political opponent, was temporarily arrested for unlawful demonstration. [Arnold, Africa: A Modern History, p. 688. Atlantic Books, 2005.]

In February, 1988, elections were held again. Diouf won 72.3 percent of the vote to Wade's 25.8 percent, and opposing parties alleged electoral fraud. Disturbances followed, and Diouf declared a state of emergency, detaining Wade again until May of that year. [Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 195. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.]

enegambia

Under Diouf, Senegal agreed to form a confederation called Senegambia with neighboring Gambia on December 12, 1981; this union took place on February 1, 1982. In April 1989, the Mauritania-Senegal Border War developed, leading to an outbreak of ethnic violence and the severing of diplomatic relations with Mauritania. As the region destabilized, Senegambia was dissolved.

Response to AIDS

In 1986, Diouf began an anti-AIDS program in Senegal, before the virus was able to take off in earnest. He used the media and schools to promote safe-sex messages, and required prostitutes to be registered. He also encouraged civic organizations and both Christian and Muslim religious leaders to raise awareness about AIDS. The result was that while AIDS was decimating much of Africa, the infection rate for Senegal stayed below 2 per cent. [Meredith, The Fate of Africa, p.367. Published by PublicAffaires, 2005.]

1993 and 2000 elections

Diouf was reelected in February 1993 with 58% of the vote [http://africanelections.tripod.com/sn.html Elections in Senegal] , African Elections Database.] to a 7-year term; presidential term lengths had been extended by two years in 1991. ["Human Rights in Developing Countries Yearbook 1997", page 276.] In the first round of the 2000 elections, on February 27, he took 41.3% of the vote against 30.1% for the long-time opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade, but in the second round on March 19 he received only 41.5% against 58.5% for Wade. Diouf conceded defeat and left office on April 1.

From this electoral defeat came one of Diouf's greatest contributions to African peace, for he gracefully surrendered power to Abdoulaye Wade, his long-time rival. When Diouf left office Wade said he should receive a Nobel Peace Prize for leaving without violence. [Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 196. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.]

ocialist Party leadership

Diouf was Deputy Secretary-General of the Socialist Party under Senghor. He became Secretary-General in 1981, and when the party was restructured at its Thirteenth Congress in 1996, [http://www.partisocialiste.sn/ps_vie/enbref.htm Page on the PS at party website] fr icon.] he was moved to the position of President of the PS, while Ousmane Tanor Dieng became First Secretary, having been proposed by Diouf.

International organizations

Both during and after his presidency, Diouf has been active in international organizations. He was elected President of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) for 1985 to 1986. Soon after his election, he made a personal plea to François Mitterrand, the President of France, resulting in France speaking strongly for sanctions against South Africa. In 1992, he was re-elected President of the OAU again for another year-long term.

After leaving office as President of Senegal, he was elected as Secretary-General of La Francophonie at that organization's Ninth Summit on October 20 2002 in Beirut, [ [http://www.francophonie.org/doc/doc-sg/biographie-sg.pdf "Biographie de Monsieur Abdou DIOUF"] , francophonie.org fr icon.] following the withdrawal of the candidate Henri Lopes of the Republic of the Congo; ["Francophone summit adopts declaration, elects new OIF head", Radio France Internationale (nl.newsbank.com), October 20, 2002.] Diouf took office on January 1 2003. [ [http://www.francophonie.org/doc/rapport-sg/2004/002_Organisation/txt-Org.html "RAPPORT DU SECRETAIRE GENERAL DE LA FRANCOPHONIE 2002-2004"] , francophonie.org fr icon.] He was re-elected as Secretary-General for another four years at the organization's summit in Bucharest in September 2006. [ [http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=476527 "Diouf re-elected OIF Secretary General for four years"] , Angola Press, September 30, 2006.]

Trivia

Diouf is a very tall man, at 6 ft 6 inches (198cm) in height.

References