[2][3] After serving as the Third Secretary of the Democratic League in charge of the press and external relations, he was elected as the party's Secretary-General at its First Congress on 6–7 April 1984, succeeding Babacar Sané.

[7] Subsequently, the LD/MPT grew increasingly at odds with Wade, and Bathily led a vote in the National Assembly against an amnesty for individuals implicated in the 1993 killing of Constitutional Council Vice-president Babacar Sèye.

[4] Bathily ran again in the February 2007 presidential election as the candidate of the Jubbanti Sénégal coalition,[1] taking sixth place with 2.21% of the vote, according to official results.

[9] He was briefly detained by police in late January 2007, along with other opposition leaders, after participating in a banned protest regarding the delaying of parliamentary elections until June.

On 2 September 2022, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Bathily as special envoy for Libya and head of the UN support mission, UNSMIL.

[19] Bathily is a distinguished member of the Advisory Board of NatureNews, Africa's foremost independent newspaper that is focused on Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Earth.