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23-686: At a summit of the Organization of African Unity in Mogadishu in 1974, Wade told President Léopold Sédar Senghor that he wanted to start a new party, and Senghor agreed to this. The PDS was founded on 31 July 1974 and recognized on 8 August. In its first constitutive congress, held on 31 January – 1 February 1976, the PDS described itself as a party of labor, but soon afterwards a law was introduced according to which three parties were allowed in Senegal:

46-604: A bureaucratic "talking shop" with little power. It struggled to enforce its decisions, and its lack of armed force made intervention exceedingly difficult. Civil wars in Nigeria and Angola continued unabated for years, and the OAU could do nothing to stop them. The policy of non-interference in the affairs of member states also limited the effectiveness of the OAU. Thus, when human rights were violated, as in Uganda under Idi Amin in

69-412: A number of African states expressed a growing desire for more unity within the continent. Not everyone was agreed on how this unity could be achieved, however, and two opinionated groups emerged in this respect: Some of the initial discussions took place at Sanniquellie , Liberia. The dispute was eventually resolved when Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I invited the two groups to Addis Ababa , where

92-603: A socialist party, a Marxist–Leninist party, and a liberal party. The first two categories were already taken, and the PDS assumed the role of a liberal party rather than be dissolved. Abdoulaye Wade is the Secretary General of the PDS and has led the party since its foundation in 1974. The PDS joined the Liberal International at the latter's Berlin Congress in 1980. The PDS participated, along with

115-499: The 2012 election , the PDS contested the following elections as part of opposition alliances, Manko Wattu Sénégal in 2017 and Wallu Sénégal in 2022 . The party succeeded in gradually increasing its parliamentary representation, up to 24 MPs in 2022, but didn't prevent Macky Sall from forming a government after both elections. Wade ran in every presidential election from 1978 to 2012, finally becoming elected President of Senegal in 2000 against incumbent President Abdou Diouf . Wade

138-508: The 1970s, the OAU was powerless to stop them. The Organisation was praised by Ghanaian former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan for bringing Africans together. Nevertheless, critics argue that, in its 39 years of existence, the OAU did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it as a "Dictators' Club" or "Dictators' Trade Union". The OAU was, however, successful in some respects. Many of its members were members of

161-761: The Bokk Sopi Senegaal opposition coalition, in which it remained until rejoining the government in March 1995. Between 2005 and 2012 the PDS was associated with the international party network Alliance of Democrats . Within Senegal, the party has been part of the Patriotic Front for the Defence of the Republic since 2014 with And-Jëf/African Party for Democracy and Socialism . After running alone in

184-559: The OAU and its headquarters were subsequently established. The Charter of the Organisation was signed by 32 independent African states. At the time of the OAU's disbanding, 53 out of the 54 African states were members; Morocco left on 12 November 1984 following the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as the government of Western Sahara in 1982. The organisation was widely derided as

207-604: The OAU as a forum for rhetoric, not action. Recognizing this, in September 1999 the OAU issued the Sirte Declaration , calling for a new body to take its place. On 9 July 2002, the OAU's Chairman , South African President Thabo Mbeki , formally dissolved the OAU and replaced it with the African Union (AU), its immediate successor, which upholds many of the founding principles of the OAU. The inception of

230-490: The OAU failed to achieve to meet goals set up to advocate African affairs. The Organisation still heavily depended on Western help (military and economic) to intervene in African affairs, despite African leaders' displeasure at dealing with the international community, especially Western countries. Autonomous specialised agencies, working under the auspices of the OAU, were: Sirte Declaration The Sirte Declaration

253-792: The OAU's establishment was the Sanniquellie Pledge at the First West African Summit Conference held in Sanniquellie , Liberia on 15–19 July 1959. President Tubman of Liberia hosted President Touré of Guinea , and Prime Minister Nkrumah of Ghana , and the three pledged to work together for the formation of a "Community of Independent African States". The OAU was founded in May 1963 in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , by 32 African states with

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276-820: The South African government, and South African aircraft were prohibited from flying over the rest of the continent. The UN was convinced by the OAU to expel South Africa from bodies such as the World Health Organization . The OAU also worked with the UN to ease refugee problems. It set up the African Development Bank for economic projects intended to make Africa financially stronger. Although all African countries eventually won their independence , it remained difficult for them to become totally independent of their former colonisers. There

299-462: The UN, too, and they stood together within the latter organisation to safeguard African interests – especially in respect of lingering colonialism. Its pursuit of African unity, therefore, was in some ways successful. Total unity was difficult to achieve, however, as the OAU was largely divided. The former French colonies, still dependent on France , had formed the Monrovia Group , and there

322-461: The following primary aims: A Liberation Committee was established to aid independence movements and look after the interests of already-independent states. The OAU also aimed to stay neutral in terms of global politics, which would prevent them from being controlled once more by outside forces – an especial danger with the Cold War. The OAU had other aims, too: Soon after achieving independence,

345-551: The key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and economic integration among member states, and to eradicate colonialism and neo-colonialism from the African continent . The absence of an armed force like the United Nations peacekeepers left the organization with no means to enforce its decisions. It was also unwilling to become involved in the internal affairs of member nations, prompting some critics to claim

368-498: The main aim of bringing the African nations together and resolve the issues within the continent. Its first ever conference was held on 1 May 1963 in Addis Ababa. At that conference, the late Gambian historian – and one of the leading Gambian nationalists and Pan-Africanists at the time – Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof delivered a speech in front of the member states, in which he said: The OAU had

391-576: The ruling Socialist Party , in a national unity government that was formed in 1991, but withdrew from it on October 20, 1992, saying that the Socialist Party had monopolized control of the government and marginalized the PDS. Wade ran against the Socialist incumbent, Abdou Diouf , in the February 1993 presidential election , but lost to Diouf, receiving 32% of the vote against Diouf's 58%. In

414-497: The subsequent May 1993 parliamentary election , the PDS won 27 out of 120 seats in the National Assembly. The PDS and the Socialist Party began discussing the formation of another government together, but this was aborted by the assassination of Constitutional Council vice-president Babacar Sèye on May 15; because the PDS had been critical of Sèye, they were suspected of responsibility for the killing. The PDS then joined

437-674: Was a further split between those that supported the United States and those that supported the USSR in the Cold War of ideologies. The pro- Socialist faction was led by Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah , while Félix Houphouët-Boigny of the Ivory Coast led the pro- capitalists . Because of these divisions, it was difficult for the OAU to take action against states involved in internal conflicts because it could rarely reach an agreement on what

460-467: Was often continued reliance on the former colonial powers for economic aid, which often came with strings attached: loans had to be paid back at high interest-rates, and goods had to be sold to the aiders at low rates. The US and Soviet Union intervened in post-colonial Africa in pursuit of their own objectives. Help was sometimes provided in the form of technology and aid-workers. Despite the fight to keep "Westerners" (colonialists) out of African affairs,

483-487: Was reelected in the first round of the 2007 election , but went on to lose the 2012 election to former Prime Minister Macky Sall . National groups: * observer *associate member **observer Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity ( OAU ; French : Organisation de l'unité africaine , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , with 33 signatory governments. Some of

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506-651: Was the resolution adopted by the Organisation of African Unity on 9 September 1999, at the fourth Extraordinary Session of the OAU Assembly of African Heads of State and Government held at Sirte , Libya . The Declaration announced decisions to: The Declaration was followed by summits at Lomé in 2000, when the Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted, and at Lusaka in 2001, when

529-520: Was to be done. The OAU did play a pivotal role in eradicating colonialism and white minority rule in Africa. It gave weapons, training and military bases to rebel groups fighting white minority and colonial rule. Groups such as the ANC and PAC, fighting apartheid , and ZANU and ZAPU , fighting to topple the government of Rhodesia , were aided in their endeavours by the OAU. African harbours were closed to

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