The
Socialist Party of Senegal (
Parti Socialiste du Sénégal, PS) is a
political partyA political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in
SenegalSenegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
. It was the ruling party in
SenegalSenegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
from independence in 1960 until 2000.
Ousmane Tanor DiengOusmane Tanor Dieng is the First Secretary of the Socialist Party of Senegal. He has been vice-president of the Socialist International since 1996.-Background and early life:...
has been the First Secretary of the party since 1996. The best-known figure of the PS was the late poet and president,
Léopold Sédar SenghorLéopold Sédar Senghor was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal . Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française. Before independence, he founded the political party called the Senegalese...
.
In the
2000 presidential electionPresidential elections were held in Senegal on 27 February 2000, with a second round taking place on 19 March after no candidate won over 50% of votes in the first round...
, the party's candidate, long-time president
Abdou DioufAbdou Diouf 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...
, was defeated by the leader of the
Senegalese Democratic PartyThe Senegalese Democratic Party is a political party in Senegal. The party considers itself a liberal party and is a member of the Liberal International. Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal's president, is the party's leader...
,
Abdoulaye WadeAbdoulaye Wade is the third and current President of Senegal, in office since 2000. He is also the Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Party and has led the party since it was founded in 1974...
, in a second round of voting. Diouf received the most votes, 41.3%, in the first round, but in the second round he received only 41.51% against Wade. In the
parliamentary electionAn election for the National Assembly of Senegal was held on 29 April 2001. The election was held under the new constitution approved by referendum earlier in the year...
held on 29 April 2001, the party won 17.4% of the popular vote and 10 out of 120 seats. Tanor Dieng was the party's candidate in the
February 2007 presidential electionA presidential election was held in Senegal on 25 February 2007. The incumbent president, Abdoulaye Wade, who was first elected in 2000, won the election in the first round with almost 56% of the vote.-Date of the election:...
; he took third place with 13.56% of the vote. The party participated in a boycott of the
June 2007 parliamentary electionParliamentary elections were held in Senegal on 3 June 2007. They had originally been planned to be held together with the presidential election on 25 February 2007, but were postponed. 14 parties or coalitions participated in the election, in which the composition of the National Assembly, with...
.
The Socialist Party is a full member of the
Socialist InternationalThe Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
.
External links