Abdoulaye Bathily is a Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

ese politician and the Secretary-General of the Democratic League/Movement for the Labour Party (LD/MPT).

Biography

Bathily was born in Tiyabu in Bakel Department

Bakel Department

' is one of the departments of Senegal, located in the Tambacounda Region. The department had an area of 22,378 km² and population estimate at 215,680 in 2005. However, recently the department was reduced to create the new department of Goudiry....

. After serving as the Third Secretary of the Democratic League in charge of the press and external relations, he was elected as the party's Secretary-General at its First Congress on April 6–7, 1984, succeeding Babacar Sané. He was the LD/MPT's candidate in the February 1993 presidential election

Senegalese presidential election, 1993

Presidential elections were held in Senegal on 21 February 1993. Incumbent President Abdou Diouf of the Socialist Party defeated seven other candidates, winning 58.4% of the vote. Voter turnout was 51.5%.-Results:...

, taking fourth place with 2.41% of the vote. In the February 1993 parliamentary election

Senegalese parliamentary election, 1993

Parliamentary elections were held in Senegal on 9 May 1993. The result was a victory for the ruling Socialist Party, which won 84 of the 120 seats. Voter turnout was around 41%.-Results:...

, he was elected to the National Assembly

National Assembly of Senegal

The National Assembly of Senegal is the lower house of Senegal's parliament.-The current National Assembly:The current National Assembly, formed following elections held on 29 April 2001, has a total of 150 elected members who serve five-year terms. The electoral system is a mixed member...

; he then served as Minister for the Environment and the Protection of Nature from 1993 to 1998 under President Abdou Diouf

Abdou Diouf

Abdou Diouf was the second President of Senegal, serving from 1981 to 2000. Diouf is notable both for coming to power by peaceful succession, and leaving willingly after losing the 2000 presidential election to Abdoulaye Wade...

.

Bathily was re-elected to the National Assembly in the 1998 parliamentary election

Senegalese parliamentary election, 1998

Parliamentary elections were held in Senegal on 24 May 1998. The result was a victory for the ruling Socialist Party, which won 93 of the 140 seats...

. He and the LD/MPT backed opposition candidate Abdoulaye Wade

Abdoulaye Wade

Abdoulaye Wade is the third and current President of Senegal, in office since 2000. He is also the Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Party and has led the party since it was founded in 1974...

 in the 2000 presidential election

Senegalese presidential election, 2000

Presidential elections were held in Senegal on 27 February 2000, with a second round taking place on 19 March after no candidate won over 50% of votes in the first round...

, and following Wade's victory Bathily was named Minister of Energy and Hydraulics in April 2000, remaining in that post until May 2001. He was again elected to the National Assembly of Senegal

National Assembly of Senegal

The National Assembly of Senegal is the lower house of Senegal's parliament.-The current National Assembly:The current National Assembly, formed following elections held on 29 April 2001, has a total of 150 elected members who serve five-year terms. The electoral system is a mixed member...

 in the April 2001 parliamentary election

Senegalese parliamentary election, 2001

An election for the National Assembly of Senegal was held on 29 April 2001. The election was held under the new constitution approved by referendum earlier in the year...

 from Bakel Department as a candidate of the ruling Sopi Coalition

Sopi Coalition

The Sopi Coalition is the governing political alliance in Senegal. The alliance is composed of the Senegalese Democratic Party and smaller parties, and it supports President Abdoulaye Wade, who is also the Secretary-General of the PDS.In the April 2001 parliamentary election, the Sopi Coalition...

, and he became the Third Vice-President of the National Assembly. Subsequently the LD/MPT grew increasingly at odds with Wade, and Bathily led a vote in the National Assembly against an amnesty for individuals implicated in the 1993 killing of Constitutional Council Vice-President Babacar Sèye. Wade dismissed the LD/MPT ministers from the government in March 2005 and the party left the Sopi Coalition, going into opposition.

Bathily ran again in the February 2007 presidential election

Senegalese presidential election, 2007

A presidential election was held in Senegal on 25 February 2007. The incumbent president, Abdoulaye Wade, who was first elected in 2000, won the election in the first round with almost 56% of the vote.-Date of the election:...

 as the candidate of the Jubbanti Sénégal coalition, taking sixth place with 2.21% of the vote, according to official results. Bathily's campaign rejected the results and alleged that there were flaws in the voting, saying that a person could be registered more than once, and that the ink used in voting, which was supposed to be indelible, could be washed off. Along with Socialist Party

Socialist Party of Senegal

The Socialist Party of Senegal is a political party in Senegal. It was the ruling party in Senegal from independence in 1960 until 2000. Ousmane Tanor Dieng has been the First Secretary of the party since 1996...

 candidate Ousmane Tanor Dieng

Ousmane Tanor Dieng

Ousmane Tanor Dieng is the First Secretary of the Socialist Party of Senegal. He has been vice-president of the Socialist International since 1996.-Background and early life:...

, Bathily filed an appeal regarding the election, but their appeals were rejected by the Constitutional Council.

He was briefly detained by police in late January 2007, along with other opposition leaders, after participating in a banned protest regarding the delaying of parliamentary elections until June.

After the formation of a government that included Wade's son Karim

Karim Wade

Karim Wade is a Senegalese politician who has served in the government of Senegal as Minister of State for International Cooperation, Regional Development, Air Transport, and Infrastructure since May 2009. He is the son of Abdoulaye Wade, the President of Senegal...

on May 1, 2009, Bathily denounced Wade for running the country through "family management", and he said that "Senegal beats all records in terms of bad governance. I am ashamed of my country." In addition, he criticized plans to introduce the office of Vice-President, saying that this office was unnecessary and senseless; he argued that it would merely be used by Wade "to ensure a monarchical succession".