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Liberal President of Senegal visits European Parliament
October 21, 2003 12:00 AM
Sarah Ludford joined in the welcome to Maitre Abdoulaye Wade, Liberal President of Senegal, on his visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg today.
President Wade has long been a major participant in Liberal International, and he was awarded Liberal International's Prize for Freedom in 2003, to honour his lifelong achievements in pursuit of liberal democracy in Senegal. Maitre Wade was a pioneer of opposition politics in Senegal and founder and leader of the Senegalese Democratic Party. He has spent much of his life campaigning against the one-party rule by the socialists since Senegal gained independence from France in 1960.
Wade contested the office of the presidency for over 20 years. He first ran in the presidential race in 1978. In the course of this campaign he was in exile and repeatedly imprisoned, but also served as an MP on the National Assembly and even as a minister in two coalition governments during the 1990s.
He was elected President of Senegal in March 2000, at the age of 74. His victory ended 40 years of de facto one-party rule by the Socialist Party.
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