According to Homosociety, the victory of A. Wade, leader of the Parti Démocratique Sénégalais (PDS), in the presidential elections of February-March 2000, represented a strong element of discontinuity in the political history of the country, ending forty years after independence and over twenty from the introduction of multi-partyism, to the predominance of the Parti Socialiste du Sénégal (PS), continuously in government since the birth of the new state (until 1976 with the name Union Progressiste Sénégalaise , UPS), and which had ended up identifying itself with the state itself and get confused. To determine the course of the years in the progressive decline of the nineties of the PS 20° sec. had been on the one hand the growing popular discontent with his economic policy and widespread corruption, on the other hand the escalation of the conflict in the southern region of Casamance, where since 1983 the independence movement Mouvement des Forces Démocratiques de la Casamance (MFDC ). The presidential consultations of 2000, which took place in a climate of serene political dialectic, testifying to the good democratic stability of the Senegalese institutions, did not however bring a new political figure to power: in fact, since the 1970s, Wade had been the main antagonist for the presidency of the Repubblica first of LS Senghor and then of A. Diouf, although in the years 1991-92 and 1994-1998 he had been a minister in the two governments of national unity promoted by the latter. Despite Wade’s victory (in the second round, with 58.5 %, against Diouf), Parliament continued to be dominated by the PS, which, with 93 seats out of 140 obtained in the 1998 legislative electionsit remained the country’s main political force. In a situation of potential instability, Wade’s first steps seemed to be aimed at consolidating his fragmented base of parliamentary consensus and establishing non-conflictual relations with the PS and with Diouf. This effort included both the formation of a coalition government with various small parties and with representatives of civil society, and the conferral of the office of prime minister on a former exponent of the PS, M. Niasse (who the previous year had given life at the Alliance des Forces de Progrés , AFP), and the assignment entrusted to Diouf to represent the Senegal at the Euro-African conference held in Cairo in April 2000, both an articulated proposal for a constitutional revision, which in rebalancing relations between the institutions also modified the electoral law, allowing for legislative consultations in advance of the regulatory deadline of 2003. The new Constitution reduced the number of deputies to 120, increased the role of Parliament, suppressed the Senate, shortened the duration of future presidential terms from 7 to 5 years, expanded the prerogatives of the prime minister and gave the president the power to dissolve Parliament. . In January 2001 the new Constitution was approved with 94% of votes in favor, in a popular referendum which saw the participation of 66 % of those entitled. Elections for Parliament were held in April of the same year. The coalition of forty parties led by the PDS and called Sopi (Change, in Wolof language, the most widespread in the country), which referred to the president, obtained almost three quarters of the seats (89); 11 were assigned to the AFP, while the PS won just 10. However, the very large parliamentary majority was not sufficient to guarantee incisive political action by the government, also due to the presence of tensions within the coalition, which led to numerous reshuffles.
In the early 2000s, however, progress was recorded from a macroeconomic point of view: significant GDP growth (4.4 % annual average between 2000 and 2005, according to the International Monetary Fund), cancellation of a large part of the external debt (June 2000), reorganization of the public debt without increasing the tax burden, privatizations, reorganization of public transport and anti-pollution measures, improvement of infrastructures with the construction of roads. Growth, however, failed to bring about an increase in employment, and indeed seemed to increase inequality in a society already marked by strong divisions. In terms of democratic freedoms, the situation could not be said to be positive: the abolition of the death penalty (December 2004) in fact contrasted with a setback in civil rights and a tendentially authoritarian method of government (intimidation, arrests of journalists, expulsions of foreign correspondents, censorship and pressure on the media). A worrying picture, which, however, was matched by the presence of an increasingly lively and active public opinion. The situation in the province of Casamance also remained unresolved: in fact, after an agreement signed in December 2004 but rejected by a part of the MFCD, the fighting resumed, causing thousands of people to flee to the Gambia in the first half of 2006. In March 2007 the presidential elections were held which saw the confirmation of Wade in the first round with the 55,8%. In foreign policy, the Senegal strengthened its relations with the USA, and was involved several times in regional peacekeeping operations.
