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106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 449
Congratulating the people of Senegal on the success of the multi-party
electoral process.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 23, 2000
Mr. Payne (for himself, Mr. Royce, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Meeks
of New York, and Ms. Lee) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on International Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Congratulating the people of Senegal on the success of the multi-party
electoral process.
Whereas the Republic of Senegal held free, fair, and transparent multi-party
elections on March 19, 2000;
Whereas Senegalese President Abdou Diouf conceded defeat to longtime rival
Abdoulaye Wade on Monday, March 20, 2000, after a hotly contested run-
off election;
Whereas President Diouf's party, Parti Socialist, has ruled in the West African
country of Senegal since independence from France in 1960;
Whereas President-elect Abdoulaye Wade of the Parti Democratique Senegal (PDS)
was voted into office by a majority of the electorate and is Senegal's
third President;
Whereas the citizens of Dakar, Senegal, joyously welcomed the results of
Senegal's free and fair elections;
Whereas on February 27, 2000, during the first round of voting, President Diouf
amassed 41.3 percent of the vote to Wade's 31 percent;
Whereas President-elect Wade won 22 of the country's 31 districts and received
60 percent of the total 1,616,307 votes cast;
Whereas President-elect Wade's victory ends 40 years of uninterrupted rule by
Mr. Diouf's Socialist Party;
Whereas President Diouf telephoned Mr. Wade to congratulate him on winning the
elections;
Whereas President-elect Wade campaigned on the principles of ``probity, good
work, and involvement of the youth'' in the construction of Senegal;
Whereas Mr. Wade received the endorsement of five leading opposition candidates
after the second round of voting, including Mr. Moustapha Niasse, a
former foreign minister in President Diouf's party;
Whereas Mr. Niasse said the new government's first task would be to re-establish
the country's equilibrium and fight corruption;
Whereas the newly elected President Wade first ran for the presidency in 1978
against ex-President Leopold Senghor and ran in four subsequent polls;
Whereas this West African country of 10 million people has remained relatively
stable and prosperous;
Whereas Senegalese President Diouf took office 19 years ago and served as prime
minister for 10 years;
Whereas his predecessor and mentor, poet and politician Leopold Sedar Senghor,
surprised the country in 1980 by voluntarily stepping down and turning
over power to President Diouf, as prescribed by Senegal's constitution;
Whereas Senegal has a free press and judiciary;
Whereas Senegal is a recipient of the African Crisis Responsive Initiative;
Whereas Mr. Wade's history symbolizes a triumph for a country which has long
been considered a model of African democracy although ruled by one
party; and
Whereas this election marks a contribution to a paradigm shift of a new
political system on the West African coast: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) commends the people of the Republic of Senegal for
voting in this historic Presidential election;
(2) congratulates President Diouf for stepping down before
the results were officially announced and upholding democracy
and good governance;
(3) encourages the Administration to send a Presidential
delegation to the West African Country of Senegal to welcome
President Wade into office;
(4) strongly urges the Economic Community Of West African
States (ECOWAS) to follow Senegal's lead and make efforts to
promote democratic reforms and prevent future conflicts;
(5) calls upon the newly elected President to involve all
Senegalese to accept the election results and move the country
forward;
(6) calls on all factions within the Secessionist Movement
of Democratic Forces in the Casamance (MFDC) rebel group in
Casamance to commit to a cessation of hostilities and create
stability for its people;
(7) strongly urges newly elected President Wade to continue
the peace initiative started by former President Diouf with the
Secessionist Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance
(MFDC);
(8) urges President-elect Wade to dialogue with the MFDC to
settle the Casamance conflict through political negotiations
and urges prompt initiation of peace talks; and
(9) recognizes Senegal as one of the first African states
to adopt a multi-party system in the early 1980's and a nation
that has been a longtime beacon of democracy on a continent of
one-party states and military dictatorships.
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