June 23 (Reuters) - Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade backpedaled on a proposed constitutional rejig that rivals said would guarantee his victory in upcoming elections, after the proposal sparked riots in Dakar.
Here are some facts about Senegal's veteran president, who spent much of his political career in the opposition:
EARLY LIFE:
* Born in the northern Senegalese coastal city of Saint Louis in May, 1926, Wade was educated in primary and secondary schools in Paris. He is married to a French woman and has a son and a daughter.
* He holds degrees and teaching certificates in economics, law, humanities, mathematics and physics.
* Wade worked as a barrister for a few years in Besancon, France, before returning to Senegal where he opened his own law firm and began teaching courses at the University of Dakar.
* He became a permanent faculty member in the law school and department of economics, and later served as dean of the law school.
ROAD TO POWER:
* Wade first ran for president against Senegal's first post-independence president Leopold Sedar Senghor in 1978 and lost.
* When riots followed a contested 1988 presidential election, he was thrown in jail. Found guilty of inciting insurrection, he was given a one-year suspended sentence.
Senghor's successor Abdou Diouf amnestied him but he lost his seat in the National Assembly.
* He ran again in 1993, taking second place behind Diouf.
ELECTION WIN:
* The year 2000 marked the end of a long march to power that began when Wade broke with the Socialists, then the country's only party, to press for multi-party politics.
-- Wade's victory in 2000 presidential elections ended four decades of Socialist domination since independence from France in 1960.
* A 2001 referendum shortened future presidential terms to five years.
* In October, 2006, the ruling Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) backed the president to stand for a second term.
* In the Feb. 25, 2007 presidential election, Wade gained 55.86 percent of the valid votes to win a second mandate.
* In 2009 police in the mostly Muslim country broke up a protest outside Dakar's cathedral after Catholics accused Wade of making disparaging comments about Jesus.
-- The dispute between the president and the small but influential Catholic community was the latest twist in a growing controversy over Wade's plan for a huge monument overlooking Dakar that depicts the "African renaissance". The giant statue was finally unveiled in April 2010, with complaints that the ${esc.dollar}28 million personal project of Wade was a waste of money and un-Islamic, being brushed aside.
* Senegal's government said in March 2011 it had thwarted a coup attempt. Critics however dismissed talk of a plot and hundreds rallied in the capital to protest against Wade and poor living conditions, including frequent power outages.
* Last April Wade revealed in a newspaper interview he had no plans to leave office as long as his health held up, and his country would not see uprisings like those in North Africa.
KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY:
* On June 23, Wade's spokesman said he withdrew a proposed constitutional rejig that would have allowed the leader of a first round of elections in February to be elected president with just 25 percent of ballots cast, instead of a majority. The decision came amid protests over the proposal, which Wade's rivals said would virtually guarantee his victory against a fragmented opposition. * Wade is also seeking to create the position of vice president -- a proposal that parliament is debating but which his rivals say is being made so he can pass on power to his son Karim, who is already a "super minister" in charge of a quarter of the nation's budget.
* The cabinet has already approved the proposal and the new vice-president could be a running mate for the president in the February 2012 election. (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; editing by Richard Valdmanis)
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