Iba Der Thiam

Iba Der Thiam, also known as ID. Thiam, (born 26 February 1937) is a Senegalese writer, historian, and politician. He served in the government of Senegal as Minister of Education from 1983 to 1988; later, he was First Vice-President of the National Assembly of Senegal from 2001 to 2012.

Thiam became an Associate Professor of History at the University of Dakar in October 1974. He was imprisoned under President Léopold Sédar Senghor for attempting to organize the country's intellectuals. Under President Abdou Diouf, he served in the government as Minister of National Education from 1983 to 1988. In September 1987, he founded the "Abdoo nu dooy" movement to campaign for Diouf's re-election in the February 1988 presidential election. He was dismissed from the government after the 1988 election and founded the Convention of Democrats and Patriots (CDP/Garab-gi) in June 1992.

Thiam was the CDP's candidate in the February 1993 presidential election. He was also elected to the National Assembly in 1993; he was re-elected as the CDP's only deputy in 1998. In late August 1999, Thiam was again designated as the CDP's candidate for the 2000 presidential election. He received 1.21% of the popular vote in the first round of the election, held on February 27, 2000, and he said on March 1 that Diouf's failure to win a majority in the first round was the result of popular disillusionment associated with a pay rise for deputies that was announced during the campaign. He backed opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade in the second round; Wade won the election. Thiam was re-elected to the National Assembly through national list proportional representation as a candidate of the pro-Wade Sopi Coalition in the 2001 parliamentary election, and during Wade's presidency he served as First Vice-President of the National Assembly. The CDP/Garab-gi merged with Wade's Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) in May 2005.

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