1957 Senegalese Territorial Assembly election
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60 seats in the Territorial Assembly 31 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 1,063,946 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 55.04% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results by constituency | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Senegal portal |
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]
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
- ^ Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1858
- ^ a b 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
- ^ a b 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
- ^ Chafer, Tony. The End of Empire in French West Africa: France's Successful Decolonization? Oxford: Berg, 2002. p. 210
- ^ a b Joseph-Roger de Benoist (1982) Afrique occidentale française de 1944 à 1960, p544
- ^ Fayé Kassé, Aminata. Women in Politics in Senegal Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 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)
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