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Abdou Diouf

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Abdou Diouf
Abdu Juuf
Diouf in 2008
2nd Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
In office
1 January 2003 – 31 December 2014
Preceded byBoutros Boutros-Ghali
Succeeded byMichaëlle Jean
2nd President of Senegal
In office
1 January 1981 – 1 April 2000
Prime Minister
Preceded byLéopold Sédar Senghor
Succeeded byAbdoulaye Wade
President of Senegambia
In office
12 December 1981 – 30 September 1989
Vice PresidentDawda Jawara
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
2nd Prime Minister of Senegal
In office
26 February 1970 – 31 December 1980
PresidentLéopold Sédar Senghor
Preceded byMamadou Dia (1962)
Succeeded byHabib Thiam
Personal details
Born (1935-09-07) 7 September 1935 (age 89)
Louga, French West Africa
(now Senegal)
Political partySocialist Party
SpouseElizabeth Diouf
Alma materUniversity of Dakar
Pantheon-Sorbonne University

Abdou Diouf (US: /ˈɑːbduː diˈuːf/ ⓘ AHB-doo dee-OOF; Serer: Abdu Juuf; born 7 September 1935)[1] is a Senegalese politician who was the second president of Senegal 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 long opposition-leader Abdoulaye Wade. He was also the second Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie from January 2003 to December 2014.[citation needed]

Early life

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Diouf was born into the Joof family in Louga, Senegal, the child of an Halpulaar mother and a Serer father. He attended primary and secondary school at the Lycée Faidherbe in Saint-Louis. He studied law at Dakar University and then at the Sorbonne in Paris. Diouf graduated in 1959.[2]

Political career

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After graduation, Diouf returned to Senegal, where, in September 1960, he was appointed Director of International Technical Cooperation. In November 1960, he became assistant to the Secretary-General of the Government; in June 1961, he became Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defense.[1][2] In 1961 he joined the Senegalese Progressive Union (Union Progressiste Sénégalaise, UPS), which later became the Socialist Party of Senegal.[2] 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 became Director of the Cabinet of President Léopold Senghor, where he remained until December 1965. In January 1964, he became Secretary-General of the Presidency until March 1968, when he became Minister of Planning and Industry. He remained in the latter position until February 1970, when he was named Prime Minister.[1]

Presidency

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In 1970, Senghor reinstated the post of prime minister, giving it to Diouf, his protégé. Senghor trusted Diouf, who had administrative experience but no independent power base.[3] This was important, for Senghor's last prime minister, Mamadou Dia, was accused of using the position to launch a coup d'état. On 1 January 1981, Senghor resigned in favor of Diouf, who became president of Senegal.

1983 and 1988 elections

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Diouf in 1988

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 was to fragment the opposition, and Diouf won with 83.5 percent of the vote.[4]

In 1985, opposing parties tried to form a coalition. It was broken up because the national constitution forbade coalitions.[5] Also in 1985, Abdoulaye Wade, Diouf's main political opponent, was temporarily arrested for unlawful demonstration.[6]

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.[7]

Senegambia

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Under Diouf, Senegal agreed to form a confederation called Senegambia with neighboring Gambia on 12 December 1981; this union took place on 1 February 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

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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 percent.[8]

1993 and 2000 elections

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George and Barbara Bush host Abdou and Elizabeth Diouf at the White House, 1991

Diouf was reelected in February 1993 with 58% of the vote[9] to a 7-year term; presidential term lengths had been extended by two years in 1991.[10] In the first round of the 2000 elections, on 27 February, he took 41.3% of the vote against 30.1% for the long-time opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade. Still, in the second round on 19 March, he received only 41.5% against 58.5% for Wade.[9] Diouf conceded defeat and left office on 1 April.[citation needed]

One of Diouf's greatest contributions to African peace came from this electoral defeat, for he gracefully surrendered power to Abdoulaye Wade, his long-time rival. When Diouf left office, Wade even said he should receive a Nobel Peace Prize for leaving without violence.[11]

Socialist Party leadership

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Diouf was Deputy Secretary-General of the Socialist Party under Senghor. He became Secretary-General in 1981, and when the party was restructured[1] at its Thirteenth Congress in 1996,[12] he was moved to the position of President of the PS,[1] while Ousmane Tanor Dieng became First Secretary, having been proposed by Diouf.[12]

International organizations

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Diouf in 2015

Diouf has been active in international organizations both during and after his presidency. He was President of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) from 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 again reelected President of the OAU for another year-long term. He was also instrumental in establishing the Goree Institute.

After leaving office as President of Senegal, he was unanimously elected as Secretary-General of La Francophonie at that organization's Ninth Summit on 20 October 2002 in Beirut,[13][14] following the withdrawal of the only other candidate, Henri Lopes of the Republic of the Congo.[13][15] Diouf took office as Secretary-General on 1 January 2003.[16] He was reelected as Secretary-General for another four years at the organization's summit in Bucharest in September 2006.[17]

Diouf is an Eminent Member of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation.

He is also a member of the Fondation Chirac's honour committee,[18] ever since the foundation was launched in 2008 by former French president Jacques Chirac in order to promote world peace and on the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT) International Advisory Board.[19] Additionally, he is one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by Reporters Without Borders.[20]

Honours and decorations

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Ribbon bar Country Honour
Senegal Grand Cross of the National Order of the Lion
Senegal Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit
France Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
Canada Grand officier of the National Order of Quebec
DR Congo Grand Cordon of the Order of the National Heroes Kabila-Lumumba[21]
DR Congo Grand Cordon of the National Order of the Leopard
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Grand Cross of the Order of La Pléiade
United Kingdom Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
South Africa Grand Cross of the Order of Good Hope
Austria Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
Portugal Grand Cross of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword
Libya Grand Cordon of the Order of the Grand Conqueror


References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Biography at Socialist Party website Archived 21 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in French).
  2. ^ a b c Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 193. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.
  3. ^ Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 193. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.
  4. ^ Ungar, Africa: The People and Politics of an Emerging Continent, p. 346. Simon and Schusyer, Inc., 1978.
  5. ^ Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 194. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.
  6. ^ Arnold, Africa: A Modern History, p. 688. Atlantic Books, 2005.
  7. ^ Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 195. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.
  8. ^ Meredith, Martin (2005). The Fate of Africa. PublicAffairs. p. 367.
  9. ^ a b Elections in Senegal, African Elections Database.
  10. ^ Human Rights in Developing Countries Yearbook 1997, page 276.
  11. ^ Rake, African Leaders: Guiding the New Millinium, p. 196. Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2001.
  12. ^ a b Page on the PS at party website Archived 19 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in French).
  13. ^ a b "Abdou Diouf, premier francophone", Afrik.com, 20 October 2002 (in French).
  14. ^ "Biographie de Monsieur Abdou Diouf" Archived 5 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, francophonie.org (in French).
  15. ^ "Francophone summit adopts declaration, elects new OIF head", Radio France Internationale, 20 October 2002.
  16. ^ "RAPPORT DU SECRETAIRE GENERAL DE LA FRANCOPHONIE 2002-2004" Archived 5 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, francophonie.org (in French).
  17. ^ "Diouf re-elected OIF Secretary General for four years" Archived 1 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Angola Press Agency, 30 September 2006.
  18. ^ "Honor Committee". Fondation Chirac. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  19. ^ "IMPACT- International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats". www.impact-alliance.org. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Abdou Diouf | RSF". 9 September 2018.
  21. ^ "RDC : Cinq choses à savoir sur l'Ordre National "Héros Nationaux"". Actualite.cd (in French). 1 June 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
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Political offices
Vacant
Title last held by
Mamadou Dia 		Prime Minister of Senegal
1970–1980 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Senegal
1981–2000 		Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity
1985–1986 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity
1992–1993 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States
1992–1993 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary General of the La Francophonie
2003–2014 		Succeeded by
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