Abdou Diouf

Abdou Diouf (Serer: Abdu Juuf; born 7 September 1935) is a Senegalese politician who was the second President of Senegal, in office from January 1981 to April 2000.

Diouf graduated in 1959.

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.

In 1961 he joined the Senegalese Progressive Union (Union Progressiste Sénégalaise, UPS), which later became the Socialist Party of Senegal.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In 1985, opposing parties tried to form a coalition.

It was broken up because the national constitution forbade coalitions.

Also in 1985, Abdoulaye Wade, Diouf's main political opponent, was temporarily arrested for unlawful demonstration.

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.

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.

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.

Diouf was reelected in February 1993 with 58% of the vote to a 7-year term; presidential term lengths had been extended by two years in 1991.

Diouf is notable both for coming to power by peaceful succession and leaving willingly after losing the 2000 presidential election to Abdoulaye Wade.

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.

Diouf conceded defeat and left office on 1 April.

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.

He was also the second Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie from January 2003 to December 2014.

Diouf was born into the Joof family in Louga, Senegal, the child of an Halpulaar mother and a Serere 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.