1945 French legislative election in Mauritania–Senegal

none Elections to the French National Assembly were held in the constituency of Mauritania–Senegal on 21 October 1945 as part of the wider parliamentary elections. Two members were elected from the seat, with the winners being French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) candidates Lamine Guèye and Léopold Sédar Senghor.Members of the First National Constituent Assembly https://web.archive.org/web/20140529152307/http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/liste_legislature.asp?legislature=43&Type=T 2014-05-29 French National Assembly Background Senegal and Mauritania were grouped together to form a single constituency, but as Mauritania had so few qualified voters, it was effectively a double constituency for Senegal.Edward Mortimer (1969) France and the Africans 1944–1960: A political history, Faber, p60 Although relations between the French and Africans in Senegal had improved during World War II, the situation had worsened again towards the end of the conflict. In November 1944 a group of French African soldiers who had been captured by the Germans were returned to Senegal and housed in a base at Thiaroye. When they failed to receive their promised pay in arrears, the soldiers refused an order to board lorries heading for Bamako. As a result, officers opened fire, killing 40 soldiers. What became known as the Thiaroye Massacre was perceived as French ingratitude, and the situation was further inflamed when some of the survivors were sentenced to 10 years in prison by a military tribunal the following year. Further resentment was caused by a French government decree of 19 February 1945 that extended voting rights in Senegal to European women but not African women, which should not have been possible under the laws passed by Blaise Diagne in 1915 and 1916, which forbade racial differentiation.Mortimer, pp60–61 Campaign Following the death of Ngalandou Diouf in 1941, Lamine Guèye was the most experienced politician in France's African colonies. The leader of the Senegalese branch of the SFIO, he had represented the Thiaroye soldiers in court, and was elected mayor of Dakar in July 1945. He decided to forgo party politics during the election campaign, and formed a comité d'entente (committee of agreement) together with the Communists, Gaullists and other political organisations.Mortimer, p61 An agreement was reached to contest the elections as an African Bloc, although this was effectively the other parties lending their support to the SFIO candidates. Léopold Sédar Senghor was the SFIO's surprise choice for the second college seat. He had lived abroad for several years and only joined the party 16 hours before being chosen as its candidate, largely due to the influence of Lamine Guèye. He was popular with war veterans as he had been a prisoner of war, and was also seen as a good choice as he was born in Senegal and spoke excellent French. Results First college Lamine Guèye French Section of the Workers' International 20528 Ousmane Diop Socé Independent Socialists 3633 Adolphe Maillat 1278 1256 44292 Sternberger et al.Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1857 Second college Léopold Sédar Senghor French Section of the Workers' International 15095 Ély Manel Fall 1695 Charles Cros Independent Socialists 1302 Djim Momar Guèye 964 Pierre Diagne African Nationalist Movement 37 Abderrahmane Koité 33 1250 25188 Sternberger et al. Aftermath Following the elections, Lamine Guèye attempted to persuade all the African MPs to form an African Bloc, which would be affiliated with the SFIO. However, the attempt failed.Mortimer, p72 References French French Category:French elections in Mauritania Category:French elections in Senegal Mauritania Mauritania Mauritania