Babacar Diop (politician)

Babacar Diop (born 17 August 1982) is a Senegalese politician who has served as mayor of Thiès since 2022.

Babacar Diop
Mayor of Thiès
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 January 2022
Preceded by	Talla Sylla
Leader of the FDS/Les Guélawar
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 April 2018
Preceded by	Party established
Personal details
Born	(1982-08-17) 17 August 1982 (age 43)[1] Thiès, Senegal
Political party	FDS/Les Guélawar
Other political affiliations	Socialist Party of Senegal (2005–2017)
Education	Lycee Malick SY

Early life and education

Diop was born on 17 August 1982, to Cheikh Mbacké Diop, a teacher, and his wife, Fatou Bane.^[1] He was raised in the Sam Pathé neighbourhood of Thiès and later earned a certificate from the École Franco-Arabe Bilal de Thiès in French and Arabic.^[1] In 1997, he completed his BFEM at Djibril Thiaw College, where he was given the nickname Laye Diaw.^[1] Diop then attended the Lycee Malick SY where Diop stated he was one of the leaders of a strike demanding the establishment of a second high school in the city.^[1]

Political career

He joined the Socialist Party of Senegal in 2005.^[1] He was the coordinator of the party's affiliated youth movement Youth for Democracy and Socialism (JDS).^[1] The JDS was briefly part of the Manko Taxawu Sénégal coalition during the 2017 Senegalese parliamentary election but withdrew on 24 August 2017.^[2] In a press statement, Diop stated that the coalition had "neither a project nor solid political structures".^[2]

On 7 April 2018, he created a new political party called the Democratic Forces of Senegal party (FDS/Les Guélawar).^[3] In the 2019 Senegalese presidential election, Diop supported Idrissa Seck, the former mayor of Thiès.^[1] On November 29, 2019, he and other activists were arrested for participating in a demonstration in front of the Palace of the Republic [fr] against the rise in electricity prices.^[3] Diop stated that he wrote two poems in prison honouring Mamadou Dia, whom he regards as his spiritual and political guide.^[1][4] Prior to the 2022 Senegalese local elections, the FDS/Les Guélawar joined the Liberate the People coalition, which selected Diop as their candidate for mayor of Thiès.^[3] He won the election on January 23, 2022 and became the 8th mayor of the city.^[1]