2001 Senegalese parliamentary election

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{{Infobox legislative election

| country = Senegal

| election_date = 29 April 2001

| previous_election = 1998

| next_election = 2007

| seats_for_election = All 120 seats in the National Assembly

| majority_seats = 60

| turnout = 67.39%

|party1 = Sopi Coalition |leader1 = Abdoulaye Wade |percentage1 = 49.58 |seats1 = 89 |last_election1 = 26

|party2 = AFP |leader2 = Moustapha Niasse |percentage2 = 16.13 |seats2 = 11 |last_election2 = new

|party3 = Socialist |leader3 = Ousmane Tanor Dieng |percentage3 = 17.36 |seats3 = 10 |last_election3 = 93

|party4 = URD |leader4 = Djibo Leyti Kâ |percentage4 = 3.68 |seats4 = 3 |last_election4 = 11

|party5 = AJ/PADS |leader5 = Landing Savané |percentage5 = 4.05 |seats5 = 2 |last_election5 = 4

|party6 = Liberal |leader6 = Ousmane Ngom |percentage6 = 0.92 |seats6 = 1 |last_election6 = new

|party7 = PPC |leader7 = Mbaye-Jacques Diop |percentage7 = 0.91 |seats7 = 1 |last_election7 = new

|party8 = APJ/Jëf-Jël |leader8 = |percentage8 = 0.80 |seats8 = 1 |last_election8 = new

|party9 = RND |leader9 = |percentage9 = 0.71 |seats9 = 1 |last_election9 = 1

|party10 = PIT |leader10 = |percentage10 = 0.58 |seats10 = 1 |last_election10 = 1

}}{{Politics of Senegal}}

Parliamentary elections were held in Senegal on 29 April 2001 to elect members of the National Assembly. They were the first held under the new constitution approved by a referendum earlier in the year. Following the victory of Abdoulaye Wade in the February–March 2000 presidential election, the Sopi Coalition, including Wade's Senegalese Democratic Party and its allies, won a large majority.

After Wade was elected president, he entered a situation of cohabitation with the Socialist Party, which still held an overwhelming majority of seats in the National Assembly. Wade was constitutionally barred from dissolving the National Assembly and calling a new parliamentary election, but he decided to revise the constitution and said that he would not pursue policy initiatives in the meantime. Since he was not seeking new legislation, he did not need to compromise with the National Assembly, which simply approved the budget and adjourned. The Socialist Party did not object to Wade's constitutional changes, which included giving the President the right to dissolve the National Assembly, and the new constitution easily passed a referendum in January 2001. Wade then dissolved the National Assembly and called a new parliamentary election. The Socialist-controlled upper house of Parliament, the Senate, was abolished by the referendum.Marina Ottaway, Democracy Challenged: The Rise of Semi-Authoritarianism (2003), Carnegie Endowment, pages 104–106.

Although Wade was barred by the January 2001 Constitution from addressing rallies during the election campaign"Senegal's president hopes to consolidate power in legislative vote", Associated Press (nl.newsbank.com), April 29, 2001. and the Sopi Coalition was not allowed to use his picture on its ballot papers,Chris Simpson, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/africa/1308486.stm "Senegal: Wade's historic turnaround"], BBC News, May 2, 2001. Wade actively and prominently participated in the Sopi campaign, drawing criticism from opponents."Senegal: President's criticized for involvement in electoral campaign", Radio France Internationale (nl.newsbank.com), April 27, 2001. Wade urged the people to vote for the Sopi Coalition so that he could govern effectively with a secure majority.