Sawaba

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Sawaba
Party leader Djibo Bakary
founding November 19, 1956
resolution October 12, 1959
Headquarters Niger
newspaper Azalaï
Alignment socialism

The Sawaba was a political party in the French overseas territory of Niger .

history

The party came into being on November 19, 1956, one day after the local elections in the Nigerien capital Niamey . The Nigerien Democratic Union (UDN) under Djibo Bakary and the Nigerien Action Block (BNA) under Georges Condat emerged from the elections as second and third place behind the Nigerien Progressive Party (PPN-RDA) under Hamani Diori . UDN and BNA merged in a surprising coup to form a new socialist party under Djibo Bakary, who thereby became mayor of Niamey. The party was formed as the Nigerien section of the African Socialist Movement (MSA), a major party active in the French overseas territories in Africa , and shortly afterwards adopted the name Sawaba ( Hausa for "freedom"). The ex-BNA politician Adamou Mayaki became the political editor of the Sawaba party newspaper Azalaï .

After the elections for the territorial assembly in Niger in 1957 , in which the Sawaba won 41 of 60 seats, the overseas territory of Niger was allowed to form its own government for the first time. The post of head of government was reserved for the French governor Paul Bordier . Djibo Bakary became deputy head of government and the ministers (with the exception of the non-party Minister of Education) came from the ranks of the Sawaba. In July 1958, the mother party MSA was part of the African Union Party (PRA). At the constitutional referendum in Niger in 1958 , the Sawaba advocated the immediate independence of Niger from France, while Hamani Dioris PPN-RDA took a stand for expanded autonomy of the overseas territory within the Communauté française . After the referendum in favor of remaining with France, the Sawaba plunged into a crisis. On the one hand, numerous former BNA party members switched to the PPN-RDA, on the other hand, the sympathy of the French administration lay with Hamani Diori's party. The elections for the Territorial Assembly in Niger in 1958 , in which the PPN-RDA ultimately won all seats, were considered to have been manipulated by the French administration. The Sawaba mobilized its supporters for street protests in Niamey, to which the new ruling party PPN-RDA responded with repression. In July 1959 Sawaba became a member of the PRA successor organization, the African Federation (PFA), but Djibo Bakary had to go into exile in September 1959. The Sawaba was banned on October 12, 1959.

In the first years after Niger's independence in 1960, Sawaba supporters from abroad made several unsuccessful attempts to forcibly overthrow President Hamani Diori and the one-party system of the PPN-RDA. During the democratic upheaval in the early 1990s, two small parties emerged, both of which claimed the political legacy of Sawaba: the Union of People's Forces for Democracy and Progress (UDFP-Sawaba) under the leadership of Djibo Bakary and the Democratic Union of Revolutionary Forces ( UDFR-Sawaba).

literature

  • Klaas van Walraven: The Yearning for Relief. A History of the Sawaba Movement in Niger . Brill, Leiden 2013, ISBN 9789004245747 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edmond Séré de Rivières: Histoire du Niger . Berger-Levrault, Paris 1965, pp. 271-272.
  2. ^ François Martin: Le Niger du Président Diori. Chronology 1960–1974 . L'Harmattan, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-7384-0952-0 , pp. 22 .
  3. ↑ Mamoudou Djibo: Les enjeux politiques dans la colonie du Niger (1944 to 1960) . In: Autrepart , No. 27/2003 ( online version ; PDF; 495 kB), p. 51.
  4. ↑ Abdourahmane Idrissa and Samuel Decalo: Historical Dictionary of Niger . 4th ed., Scarecrow, Plymouth 2012, ISBN 978-0-8108-6094-0 , pp. 85-86.