1960 Dahomeyan general election

none Dahomey 11 December 1960 971,012 70.98% yes presidential Presidential election May 1968 Dahomeyan presidential election May 1968 Hubert Maga (cropped) on September 24th, 1961.jpg Hubert Maga Dahomeyan Unity Party Sourou-Migan Apithy 468,679 68.70% Justin Ahomadegbé-Tomêtin, 1964 (cropped).jpg Justin Ahomadégbé UDD Sacca Koto Ngobi 213,572 31.30% President Office established Hubert Maga Dahomeyan Unity Party yes Parliamentary election yes 1959 1964 Dahomeyan Unity Party 68.70 60 50 1960 Dahomeyan election results.svg List results by department General elections were held in the Republic of Dahomey on 11 December 1960. According to the electoral law passed by the National Assembly, each party submitted a list of candidates for president, vice-president and all 60 National Assembly seats. The list that received the most votes would secure all offices. The Dahomeyan Unity Party (PDU), a merger of the Dahomeyan Democratic Rally and the Dahomey Nationalist Party, ran a list led by Hubert Maga and Sourou-Migan Apithy. The opposing Dahomeyan Democratic Union ran a list led by Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin and Sacca Koto Ngobi.Ronen Dov Dahomey: Between Tradition and Modernity Cornell University Press 1975 9780801409271 126–128 The PDU list received 68% of the vote, resulting in Maga winning the presidency and the PDU taking all seats in the National Assembly. Voter turnout was 71%.Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, pp80, 82, 90 0-19-829645-2 Following the elections, Dahomey effectively became a one-party state. In April 1961 the opposition newspaper DahoMatin was banned and the UDD was dissolved by presidential decree. On 27 May a supposed plot to assassinate Maga and his ministers was "uncovered", leading to the arrest of Ahomadegbe and two former UDD members who had helped him rally trade-union support in 1956–1957. Maga's government was ultimately unsuccessful in its consolidation of power and was overthrown by Christophe Soglo in 1963. Background Shortly after independence, all parties — the UDD, RDD, PND and Mouvement de libération nationale (Dahomey) fr National Liberation Movement (MLN) — formed the Front d'Action Patriotique (Patriotic Action Front, FAP) parliamentary group, recognizing the need for national unity in order to address the problems of the new state, and passing a new electoral law.Carter Gwendolen M. Five African States: Responses to Diversity. The Congo, Dahomey, the Cameroun Federal Republic, the Rhodesias and Nyasaland South Africa. Cornell University Press 1964 227–230 Members of the MLN later joined the RDD, revitalizing it and giving political substance to a party that had previously been little more than an "expression of a vague regionalism." The strengthened RDD then sought admission into the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA) with the support of Félix Houphouët-Boigny. This move brought the RDD into conflict with the UDD, which regarded itself as the official Dahomeyan branch of the RDA. Ahomadegbe sought to form a single national party, and with the help of Houphouet, attempted to convince Maga to join Ahomadegebe. In mid-October, the RDD congress proposed Maga as the coalition candidate for the presideny in the approaching elections, prompting the UDD to reject the coalition idea entirely. As Ahomadegbe intended the new party to be his, the UDD made the dissolution of the RDD and the individual integration of its members into the new party a condition for a union, which would've effectively neutralized the RDD's organizational power. These terms were unacceptable to the RDD. Frustrated with both Maga and Houphouet, UDD leaders called a general strike at the end of October and introduced a motion of censure against the government, accusing it of worsening social conditions and failing to propose a meaningful development plan, particularly regarding labor welfare. While the strike proved effective, the motion of censure was defeated by a surprise alliance between the RDD and Apithy's PND, which resulted in the expulsion of UDD members from the government. On 13 November the alliance formally merged into a single party with Maga at its head. Its platform included support for Dahomey's participation in the African solidarity movement, specifically of its membership in the Conseil de l'Entente, commitments to rational planning and economic austerity, and reforming the objectives and methods of the labor movement. Results File:Dahomey Assemblee 1960.svg Dahomeyan Unity Party 468679 60 +10 #D2691E Dahomeyan Democratic Union 213572 0 –20 6982 –10 971012 Nohlen et al. References Dahomey Category:Presidential elections in Benin Category:Parliamentary elections in Benin Parliamentary