Ousmane Tanor Dieng, the President of Senegal’s High Council of Territorial Collectivities (HCCT) died on Monday at the age of 72 years, in Paris, where he had gone for medical care, media sources told APA here.
Born in 1947 in the town of Ngueniene (130 km from Dakar), Ousmane Tanor Dieng was the Secretary General of the Socialist Party (PS, ruling majority). A graduate of the University of Dakar, the National School of Administration (ENAM) and the School of Public Works (ESTP), he was appointed Diplomatic Advisor to Presidents Leopold Sedar Senghor and Abdou Diouf.
The latter appointed him in 1993 Senior Minister in charge of Services and Presidential Affairs.
After President Abdou Diouf’s defeat in the 2000 presidential elections, Tanor took the reins of the party, and ran for the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. Eliminated in the first round with 13 percent of the vote, Tanor threw his weight behind Macky Sall in the second round of the 2012 presidential election.
Since then, the Socialist Party has been part of the Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) ruling coalition.
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