Wade, Abdoulaye

▪ 2001

      Following four unsuccessful attempts to gain high office, on April 1, 2000, Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) leader Abdoulaye Wade was sworn in as Senegal's third president; his election signaled a major power shift in the country, which had been ruled by the Socialist Party (PS) since gaining independence from France in 1960. In the first round of elections on February 27, Wade secured only about 31% of the vote, whereas incumbent PS leader Abdou Diouf captured 41%. In the second round on March 19, however, Wade scored an overwhelming victory in the country's first-ever runoff election.

      Wade was born on May 29, 1926, in the town of Kébémer, between Dakar and St. Louis in the Louga region. He was educated in Senegal and France, and in 1970 he earned a Ph.D. from the faculty of law and economics of the Sorbonne. After practicing law in France, he returned to Senegal and became a professor at the University of Dakar and later served as dean of its Faculty of Law and Economics. In 1974 Wade launched the PDS in opposition to Léopold Sédar Senghor, and four years later he won a seat in the National Assembly. He rapidly became the focal point of the then fledgling opposition movement. That same year he unsuccessfully ran against Senghor in the presidential election. He made a second bid in the 1988 presidential election, this time losing to Senghor's handpicked successor, Diouf. In 1988 Wade lost again to the incumbent in a disputed contest that created massive civil unrest over the manner in which that election had been conducted. To calm the volatile situation, Diouf offered Wade a post in his government. Wade served as senior minister of state for 18 months before resigning in protest against Diouf's various policies. He ran against Diouf again in 1993 but received only 32% of the vote. Later that year Wade was imprisoned briefly by Diouf on charges of endangering the security of the state, but Wade was nonetheless invited to rejoin the cabinet in his former position in March 1995. He remained in government until his resignation in March 1998 to prepare for a fifth bid for the presidency.

      As president, Wade faced major problems; he had to find the means to deliver on his campaign promises to improve literacy levels, raise health standards, and alleviate poverty, as well as address the deteriorating economic situation of the country at large. In addition, he had to deal with the country's huge international debt resulting from severe balance of payments problems. Among his first actions was to ask merchants to lower the price of rice, the country's staple food. He was expected to distance himself somewhat from France and to seek much closer ties with the United States.

Nancy Ellen Lawler

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