Elections to the Territorial Assembly in Niger in 1958
The elections for the 1958 Territorial Assembly in Niger took place on December 14, 1958, and by-elections on June 27, 1959.
background
In the constitutional referendum on September 28, 1958 , the majority of the eligible population of Niger adopted the constitution of the Fifth French Republic and thus voted for the former colony with France to remain within the French Community . A rejection of the constitution would have meant Niger's immediate independence. Of the two parties represented in the Territorial Assembly, the parliament of Niger, the Nigerien Progressive Party (PPN-RDA) advocated a yes and the Sawaba a no. The Sawaba provided the parliamentary majority and, with the exception of one non-party, all ministers in the Nigerien government, the Conseil de gouvernement . The positioning and defeat at the constitutional referendum caused a deep crisis at the Sawaba, which was expressed in numerous party withdrawals. The PPN-RDA, which had tended to arouse suspicion in the French administration since it was founded in 1946, now found itself in the role of a trustworthy representative of French interests. After the constitutional referendum, the Territorial Assembly was dissolved on November 14, 1958 to make way for new elections. The PPN-RDA officially entered as part of an electoral alliance with the programmatic name Union for the Franco-African Community (UFCA), which also included pro-French Sawaba apostates.
Results
Preliminary result
The elections took place on December 14, 1958 and are considered to have been manipulated by the French administration in favor of the PPN-RDA. Of 1,320,174 registered voters, 483,953 officially went to the polls. This corresponds to a voter turnout of 36.7%. Of the 483,953 voting slips submitted, 474,778 were rated as valid and 9,175 as invalid (or blank ballot slips).
| Political party | Mother party | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Union for the Franco-African Community (UFCA); di Nigerien Progressive Party (PPN-RDA) and allies |
African Democratic Collection (RDA) | 49 |
| Sawaba | African Alliance Party (PRA) | 11 |
| total | 60 | |
Final result after the by-elections
Allegedly there were irregularities in the constituency of Zinder , the only one with an election victory for Sawaba. The election results of this constituency were therefore canceled and by-elections in Zinder were scheduled for June 27, 1959. In the meantime, the UFCA was completely absorbed in the PPN-RDA.
| Political party | Mother party | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Nigerien Progressive Party (PPN-RDA) | African Democratic Collection (RDA) | 60 |
| total | 60 | |
consequences
As early as December 18, 1958, the Territorial Assembly decided to convert the previous overseas territory of Niger into the Republic of Niger and to rename the Territorial Assembly to the Constituent Assembly. This happened within the framework of the new French constitution, through which Niger was constituted as part of the Communauté française with its own constitution. The obviously manipulated election results led to street riots in the capital Niamey . In October 1959, the Sawaba was banned. Many of its leaders were arrested or exiled. The parliament elected in 1958/1959 accompanied Niger to independence as a national assembly in 1960 and was not re-elected until the parliamentary elections of 1965 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Edmond Séré de Rivières: Histoire du Niger . Berger-Levrault, Paris 1965, p. 272.
- ↑ a b c Abdourahmane Idrissa and Samuel Decalo: Historical Dictionary of Niger . 4th ed., Scarecrow, Plymouth 2012, ISBN 978-0-8108-6094-0 , p. 85.
- ^ Elections in Niger . African Elections Database, published October 30, 2011, accessed January 29, 2013.
- ↑ Historique ( Memento from May 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). Assemblée Nationale website, published October 17, 2011, accessed January 29, 2013.
