01-04-2012
Senegal,a brief history since the 17th century towards the 2012 elections , mainly occupied by colonial powers till 1960
In 1627 the Dutch West India Company (created in 1621) purchased the isle of Goree (goede ree, good road ,2 km from Dakar).The Dutch settlers occupied the island for nearly half a century.
They delt in wax, amber, gold, ivory and also participated in the slave trade, but kept away from trading posts on the coast.
Saint Louis was a more important centre of slave trade.The slave trade intensified in the 17th century.
In 1763 the French took over the isle of Goree (from the British already)and also the river of Senegal with its forts and the trading posts of Saint Louis, Podor and Galam.
The English have again occupied St.Louis a few times between 1693 and 1758.
In 1783 Senegal returns to France again and slavery was abolished by France in 1794 and then reinstated by Bonaparte in 1802 and finally abolished in 1848.
The British Empire abolished slavery in 1833.
It was only in the 1850s that the French under the governor Louis Faidherbe began to expand their foothold into the Senegalese mainland.
This was also the beginning of Senegalese political awareness ,more or less accepted by the French, because in 1848 a law was passwd in Paris enabling to elect a Senegalese Deputy for the french Parliament.In 1852 the seat was abolished , to be allowed again in 1871, to be abolished again in 1875, to be allowed once more in 1879
and remained the single parliamentary representation from Africa anywhere in a European legislature.
It was only in 1916 that locals (originaires) were granted full voting rights while maintaining legal protections.
Blaise Diagne, who was the prime advocate behind the change, was in 1914 the first African deputy elected to the French National Assembly.
From tat time till independance in 1960, the deputies of Senegal were always African and were at the forefront of the decolonisation struggle.
In 1959 Senegal and the French Soudan(now Mali) merged to form the Mali Federation which became fully independant on 20 june 1960, as a result of the independance and the power agreement signed with France on 4 april 1960. Senegal a and Soudan (renamed the Republic of Mali), due to political difficulties broke up on 20 august 1960.
Senegal proclaimed independance.
Leopold Senghor, internationally known politician,statesmean and poet, was elected Senegals first president in august 1960. In 1962 there was an attempted coup by his prime minister Mamadou Dia.The coup was put down without bloodshed.
Senghor was considerably more tolerant of opposition than most African regimesin the 1960s.Nonetheless political activity was somewhat restricted for a time.
Senghors party was the only legally permitted political party until 1973.
In 1980 Senghor retired from politics and handed power over to his handpicked successor Abdou Diouf .
In 1982 Senegal joined with The Gambia to form Senegambia.The envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out and dissolved in 1989 .
A Southern separist group in the Casamance region has clashed several times with government forces since 1982.
Abdou Diouf was president between 1981 and 2000.Senegals commitment to democracy and human rights has strengthened over time.
Diouf served four terms as President.In the presidential election of 2000 he was defeated in a free and fair election by opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade who remained president till 2012.
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