The Sopi Coalition was the governing
political alliance in
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠...
during the presidency of
Abdoulaye Wade
Abdoulaye Wade (born 29 May 1926)
Encyclopedia of the Nations. Retrieved February 28, ...
. The alliance is composed of the
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 ...
(PDS) and smaller parties. Wade is the Secretary-General of the PDS.
The alliance's name came from large crowds chanting "Sopi! Sopi!" at Wade's rallies during his successful campaign for president in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
. "Sopi" is the
Wolof word for "change."
In the
April 2001 parliamentary election, the Sopi Coalition won 49.59% of the popular vote and 89 out of 120 seats in 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 ...
. Six years later, in the
parliamentary election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
of 3 June 2007 (which was boycotted by most of the opposition), the Sopi Coalition 2007 won 69.21% of the popular vote and 131 out of 150 seats.
"Le Conseil constitutionnel confirme définitivement la large victoire de la Coalition Sopi"
''Le Soleil'' (seneweb.com), 15 June 2007.
References
{{Senegal-stub
Political parties in Senegal