Socialist Party of Senegal

The Socialist Party of Senegal was first created in 1958 right before Senegal gained independence. The Party was founded by Leopold Sedar Senghor and it was in power under him politically from 1960 to 1980. The Socialist Party of Senegal was initially known as the Senegalese Progressive Union (Union Progressiste Senegalaise, UPS). The UPS became the ruling party of Senegal in 1960 once independence was gained. The UPS officially was known as the Socialist Party of Senegal starting in 1976. He had served in the French Constituent Assembly since 1945, therefore he already had political experience when elected president. Dia accepted blame and was sent to prison as a result. Senegal relied heavily on peanut-farming and this source of economic stability was in decline. Starting in 1978, Wade's party began to start winning seats in the National Assembly. This was the beginning of Senegal moving from an essentially single-party system into a more competitive system. Leopold Sedar Senghor voluntarily resigned from position of president in 1980 and Abdou Diouf came into power as Senghor's hand-picked successor. == Election results ==

Presidential elections Senegal is a republic with a presidency. The president is elected every 7 years (previously every 5 years until 2001 and between 2007 and 2012) by the adult Senegalese population. The 2000 Senegalese presidential election ended 40 years of dominance by the Socialist Party of Senegal. Ousmane Tanor Dieng was the party's candidate in the 2007 Senegalese presidential election; he took third place with 13.56% of the vote. He was also the candidate in the 2012 Senegalese presidential election and lost again. In the 2019 Senegalese presidential election, the party did not field a candidate. National Assembly elections The parliament in Senegal is unicameral and is currently made up of the National Assembly, which has 165 seats (the number of seats have gradually increased over past elections). Elections are held every 5 years. The Socialist Party of Senegal has held seats in the National Assembly since it was created until 2007. == See also ==