Parliamentary elections were held in

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

on 29 April 2001 to elect members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. They were the first held under the new constitution approved by a referendum earlier in the year. Following the victory of

Abdoulaye Wade Abdoulaye Wade (born 29 May 1926)
Encyclopedia of the Nations. Retrieved February 28, ...

in the February–March 2000 presidential election, the Sopi Coalition, including Wade's

Senegalese Democratic Party The Senegalese Democratic Party (french: Parti démocratique sénégalais) is a political party in Senegal. The party considers itself a liberal party and is a member of the Liberal International. Abdoulaye Wade, who was President of Senegal fro ...

and its allies, won a large majority. After Wade was elected President, he entered a situation of

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

with the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

, which still held an overwhelming majority of seats in the National Assembly. Wade was constitutionally barred from dissolving the National Assembly and calling a new parliamentary election, but he decided to revise the constitution and said that he would not pursue policy initiatives in the meantime. Since he was not seeking new legislation, he did not need to compromise with the National Assembly, which simply approved the budget and adjourned. The Socialist Party did not object to Wade's constitutional changes, which included giving the President the right to dissolve the National Assembly, and the new constitution easily passed a referendum in January 2001. Wade then dissolved the National Assembly and called a new parliamentary election. The Socialist-controlled upper house of Parliament, the Senate, was abolished by the referendum.Marina Ottaway, ''Democracy Challenged: The Rise of Semi-Authoritarianism'' (2003), Carnegie Endowment, pages 104–106. Although Wade was barred by the January 2001 Constitution from addressing rallies during the election campaign and the Sopi Coalition was not allowed to use his picture on its ballot papers,Chris Simpson
"Senegal: Wade's historic turnaround"
BBC News, May 2, 2001. Wade actively and prominently participated in the Sopi campaign, drawing criticism from opponents."Senegal: President's criticized for involvement in electoral campaign", Radio France Internationale (nl.newsbank.com), April 27, 2001. Wade urged the people to vote for the Sopi Coalition so that he could govern effectively with a secure majority.

Results

References

External links

BBC news on the electionPress reaction to the election
{{Senegalese elections Elections in Senegal

2001 in Senegal April 2001 events in Africa Election and referendum articles with incomplete results