Katy Wone Cisse, a member of International Governing Council of Centre for Democracy and Development , CDD has been elected Deputy Speaker of the Senegalese Parliament.Her emergence has brought the story of the country into focus once again.
Against all odds, Senegal has maintained its record as one of the African countries with a long standing capacity to maintain its democratic success story. Former President Wade against the letter and spirit of the Constitution tried to get an illegal third term in office but was humiliated by the people in the highly credible and competitive presidential election. In the legislative election that held on July 1st 2012, less than 10% of 150 members of the previous Parliament were returned. Credible new candidates defeated long standing political figures in the newly established 12th Legislature.
A statement by Jibrin Ibrahim , Director of CDD noted that Katy who holds a Masters degree in Political Science from the Institute of Political Science in Bordeaux, France has distinguished herself as civil society leader in Senegal and West Africa. She was one of the main anchors of the M23 Movement that organised street demonstrations and strategised to democratically remove President Wade from office. She seats on the Board- International Governing Council of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and has contributed significantly to our work. Katy who contested as an Independent Candidate and went further to win one of the positions of Deputy Speaker of the Parliament is expected to play a major role in the process of deepening democracy. It is worthy of note that 65 out of the 150 members of Parliament are women and Katy who has a strong track record of promoting gender equality will no doubt continue to play a leading role in promoting the rights of women and the Senegalese masses. The statement said the Centre for Democracy and Development wishes her the very best in her new role.
