The Senegalese Popular Bloc (in
French: ''Bloc Populaire Sénégalais'' (BPS)) was the result of the merger of the
Senegalese Democratic Bloc (BDS) of
Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor ( , , ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese politician, cultural theorist and poet who served as the first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980.
Ideologically an African socialist, Senghor was one ...
,
Senegalese Democratic Union (UDS),
Casamancian Autonomous Movement (MAC) and a fraction of the
Senegalese Popular Movement (MPS) led by Abdolaye Thiaw. It held its constitutive congress in
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
from February 23–25, 1957. The merger was however already in effect since August 1956.
[''Socialist Affairs, Volumes 22-23'', Socialist International (1972), pp. 82-84][Zuccarelli, François, ''La vie politique sénégalaise: 1940-1988'', Paris, Centre des hautes études sur l'Afrique et l'Asie modernes (CHEAM) 1988, pp. 53-56][Coleman, James S.; Coleman, James Smoot; and Rosberg, Carl G.; ''Political Parties and National Integration in Tropical Africa'', ]University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
(1970), pp. 22-25,
(Retrieved 30 March 2019)
The congress elected Senghor as its political director and
Mamadou Dia
Mamadou Dia (18 July 1910 – 25 January 2009) was a Senegalese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Senegal from 1957 until 1962, when he was forced to resign and was subsequently imprisoned amidst allegations that he was p ...
as the general secretary.
[Borella, François, ''L'évolution politique et juridique de l'Union française depuis 1946'', Paris, Librairie générale de droit et de jurisprudence, 1958, p. 90]
On January 11 the same year BPS organized a meeting in Dakar, launching the
African Convention.
The Convention was intended to evolve into an all-
AOF party. The launching of the Convention was preceded by failed efforts of unity between BPS and the
African Democratic Rally
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** List ...
(RDA). Senghor wanted the Convention to fill the role of a party corresponding to the ''
Indépendents d'Outre-Mer'' parliamentary fraction that he belonged to.
In 1958 the
African Convention and the
African Socialist Movement merged to form the
Party of African Regroupment (PRA). As a result of this merger BPS merged with the Senegalese section of MSA,
Senegalese Party of Socialist Action (PSAS), and formed the
Senegalese Progressive Union (UPS).
References
Bibliography
*Borella, François, ''L'évolution politique et juridique de l'Union française depuis 1946'', Paris, Librairie générale de droit et de jurisprudence, 1958, p. 86 ; 89 ; 90
*Zuccarelli, François, ''La vie politique sénégalaise (1940-1988)'', Paris, CHEAM, 1988
*Boone, Catherine. ''Merchant Capital and the Roots of State Power in Senegal: 1930-1985'',
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
(2006), p. 85
(Retrieved 30 March 2019)
*Heyns, Christof, ''Human Rights Law in Africa 1998'', Martinus Nijhoff Publishers (2001), p. 385
(Retrieved 30 March 2019)
*''Socialist Affairs'', Volumes 22-23, Socialist International (1972), pp. 82–84
*Coleman, James S.; Coleman, James Smoot; and Rosberg, Carl G.; ''Political Parties and National Integration in Tropical Africa'',
University of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
(1970), pp. 22–25,
(Retrieved 30 March 2019)
{{Authority control
1957 establishments in Senegal
Defunct political parties in Senegal
Political parties established in 1957
Political parties in French West Africa
Socialist parties in Senegal