Senegal’s President Macky Sall has described the head of the country’s High Council of Territorial Collectivities (HCCT), Ousmane Tanor Dieng who died on Monday at the age of 72 as a statemen of ‘exceptional dimensions’.
Dieng died in Paris, where he had gone for medical care.
“Senegal has just lost a statesman of exceptional stature, a worthy son of the Republic whose career path is an example of self-sacrifice and a model of patriotic commitment,” Sall said in a statement issued hours after Dieng’s demise was confirmed.
On behalf of the Senegalese nation, President Sall addressed his “heartfelt condolences to the grieving family, to all the militants and leaders of the Socialist Party (SP), to the members of the High Council of Territorial Communities and to all the members of the Republic’s institutions.”
His statement added: “With the passing of President Ousmane Tanor Dieng, President Macky Sall, the Benno Bokk Yakaar Coalition, the Socialist Party and the Republic have just lost an eminent and loyal ally, a great activist from Senegal and the Republic”.
Ousmane Tanor Dieng who was Secretary General of the Socialist Party, ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2007 and 2012.
Eliminated in the first round, at the end of the last election in February, he joined forces with Mr. Sall who was eventually reelected president.
Since then, the Socialist Party has been a member of the ruling “Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition.
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