Territorial Assembly elections were held in Senegal on 31 March 1957.Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1858 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.
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.
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.Chafer, Tony. The End of Empire in French West Africa: France's Successful Decolonization? Oxford: Berg, 2002. p. 210
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.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
Results One MP from Kédougou was elected from one of the various regional lists that contested the polls. No women were elected to the assembly.Fayé Kassé, Aminata. Women in Politics in Senegal
Aftermath After the elections, BPS selected Ibrahima Seydou N'Daw from Kaolack as the chair of the Assembly.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
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