1957 Senegalese Territorial Assembly election

1957 Senegalese Territorial Assembly election

←  1952 31 March 1957 1959  →
60 seats in the Territorial Assembly 31 seats needed for a majority
Registered	1,063,946
Turnout	55.04%
Majority party Minority party   Leader Léopold Sédar Senghor Lamine Guèye Party BPS PSAS Seats won 47 12 Popular vote 454,533 105,085 Percentage 78.25% 18.09%
Results by constituency

Territorial Assembly elections were held in Senegal on 31 March 1957. ^[1] The result was a landslide victory for the Senegalese Popular Bloc (BPS), which won 47 of the 60 seats. Its main competitor, the MSA-affiliated Senegalese Party of Socialist Action (PSAS) had aliented the marabouts and enabled the BPS to win the rural vote (over which the marabouts held an important sway) by far. ^[2]

Electoral system

The elections had been called after the adoption of the Loi Cadre in 1956, which instituted a system of semiautonomous governments in the different colonies of French West Africa. ^[3]

Campaign

Whilst most other Territorial Assembly elections were dominated by affiliates of the African Democratic Rally (RDA), the Senegalese elections saw a clash between the Senegalese parties affiliated to the African Convention (CA) and the African Socialist Movement (MSA) respectively. ^[4]

The CA-affiliated BPS had evolved out of the Senegalese Democratic Bloc just before the elections. In the run-up to the elections the BPS leader Léopold Sédar Senghor had a more socialist and nationalist discourse, attracting various trade unionists and leftwing intellectuals to join the BPS leadership. ^[3]

Results

One MP from Kédougou was elected from one of the various regional lists that contested the polls. ^[5] No women were elected to the assembly. ^[6]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Senegalese Popular Bloc	454,533	78.25	47
	Senegalese Party of Socialist Action	105,085	18.09	12
	Djoloff Democratic Bloc	6,159	1.06	0
	Matam Cercel Progressive Bloc	5,827	1.00	0
	Fouta Toro Democratic Bloc	3,720	0.64	0
	Kédougou Democratic Bloc	2,227	0.38	1
	United List for the Defense of the Interests of Lower Senegal	946	0.16	0
	Workers and Peasants Bloc	791	0.14	0
	Union for the Defense of the Interests of the Podor Cercle	383	0.07	0
	Radical Party	40	0.01	0
	Others	1,128	0.19	0
Total		580,839	100.00	60
Valid votes		580,839	99.19
Invalid/blank votes		4,770	0.81
Total votes		585,609	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,063,946	55.04
Source: Mackenzie [7] , De Benoist [5]

Aftermath

After the elections, BPS selected Ibrahima Seydou N'Daw from Kaolack as the chair of the Assembly. ^[2]

References

1. Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1858
2. Roche, Christian. Le Sénégal à la conquête de son indépendance: 1939-1960 : chronique de la vie politique et syndicale, de l'Empire français à l'indépendance . Hommes et sociétés. Paris: Karthala, 2001. p. 180
3. Boone, Catherine. Merchant Capital and the Roots of State Power in Senegal, 1930-1985. Cambridge studies in comparative politics. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1992. p. 85
4. Chafer, Tony. The End of Empire in French West Africa: France's Successful Decolonization? Oxford: Berg, 2002. p. 210
5. Joseph-Roger de Benoist (1982) Afrique occidentale française de 1944 à 1960, p544
6. Fayé Kassé, Aminata. Women in Politics in Senegal Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
7. Mackenzie, W. J. M. (Ed.). (1961). The Senegal elections. En Five elections in Africa: A group of electoral studies (p. 389). Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Archived)