IRIN Profiles of presidential candidates

ABDOU DIOUF

Abdou Diouf, 65, leader of the ruling Parti socialiste first became president of the republic in 1981, a position he has continued to hold ever since. He served as prime minister in 1970 under then president Leopold Senghor, succeeded Senghor on his retirement, and was elected in 1983, 1988 and 1993.

Diouf was born in 1935 in Louga, north-western Senegal. He studied at Paris University and was a civil servant before entering politics. In 1985-1986 he was chairman of the Organization of African Unity, the continent’s foremost political body.

Diouf is credited with liberalising politics by allowing an unlimited number of parties to operate. His predecessor ran a one-party state before allowing a total of three political parties in the country.

Diouf’s presidency has been dogged by rising unemployment and an 18-year war with the Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC), a movement that wants independence for the south of Senegal. His government signed a ceasefire accord on 27 December 1999 with the MFDC.

On his recent campaign trail Diouf said he had been able to create 47,000 jobs a year since 1993, although this has been disputed by opposition parties and analysts.

In these elections he faces the stiffest challenge to his presidency in his entire political career. He has promised change, which is the demand of all the political parties vying to unseat him.

ABDOULAYE WADE

Veteran politician Abdoulaye Wade, 74 - founder of the Parti democratique senegalais in 1974 - has been a parliamentarian, served twice in a coalition government, and has been much frustrated in his effort to capture the presidency.

Under a government coalition led by the Parti socialiste, Wade reported directly to President Abdou Diouf as a senior minister for Senegal from April 1991 to October 1992 and as senior minister in the presidency from March 1995 to March 1998.

Public offices he has held include membership of the International Academy of Comparative Law, based in Stockholm (1995-1998).

Armed with a law degree from Besancon University in France in 1955, Wade served as a barrister at the Court of Appeal in Dakar in 1959-1988. He was also at the bar in Grenoble.

He taught at various local and foreign institutions after studying subjects ranging from psychology to economics. He was a researcher in econometrics at the University of Boston, and assistant in the faculty of law and economics of the Paris II University. In 1970, he lectured in the faculties of law and economics at the Sorbonne in Paris, and was dean of the law and economics faculty at the University of Dakar, Senegal.

He was president in 1972 of the group of African experts of the Organisation of African Unity and the African Development Bank in international monetary negotiations on the financing of intra-African development and cooperation.