Early Political Parties
In late 1945 the political party scene in Guinea was characterized by organizations made up of the French and local African elite that had relations with parties in France (of which they were in fact affiliates) and local indigenous organizations that were basically ethnic and regional in orientation. Significant among the former was the affiliate of the French Socialist Party called the Socialist Democracy of Guinea (Démocratie Socialiste de Guinée—DSG). Headed by Yacine Diallo, the party appealed for support mainly to the elite. The party's power reached a peak in elections in 1946 and 1947 but began to decline thereafter. After an expansion of the electorate effective in 1951, its relative strength dropped considerably, and party support was reduced still further by the death of Diallo in 1954.
In 1945 the four principal indigenous parties were centered in different geographic regions and, although ethnic differences had lost some of their significance under French rule, each party tended to represent a particular group. The four parties included the Committee of Lower Guinea (Comité de Ia Basse-Guinée), which was Soussou dominated; the Gilbert Vieillard Association of Friends (Amicale Gilbert Vieillard) of Middle Guinea, principally grouping the Peul of the Fouta Djallon; the Manding Union (Union du Manding) in Upper Guinea, representing Mandé-speaking peoples, including the large Malinké group; and the Forest Union (Union Forestiére), which combined the articulate political elements of the various ethnic communities in the Forest Region. During the first few post-World War II years most of the African electorate were members of these four parties. Their several leaders displayed little interest in territory-wide problems, however, and little effort was made at cooperation.
In 1946, on the initiative of the African deputies elected to the constituent assembly in France, among whom was Diallo, and with the cooperation of other African leaders in the territories making up French West African and French Equatorial Africa, a general conference was called at Bamako to unite the multitude of territorial political groups and formulate a common policy for French Black Africa. From this emerged the African Democratic Rally (Rassemblement Démocratique Africain—RDA). Guinea delegates to the conference included Sékou Touré, but Diallo did not attend although he had signed the original manifesto calling for the meeting. Nor did Diallo later join the Guinea branch of the RDA, the Democratic Party of Guinea (Parti Démocratique de Guinée—PDG), but went his separate political way as head of the socialist cause.
The PDG was formed in May 1947; it introduced a new political force that was eventually to become dominant in Guinea. The PDG's early years were marked by little strength, however, the diverse ethnic and political elements among its leadership often tending to go their own way. Government opposition arose that stemmed from the association of a small group of younger, dedicated leaders (who in effect kept the party alive during the first years) with the French Communists. Opposition also developed in other groups, including the village chiefs, over what were considered extremist positions. During this time the party drew little mass support, as was demonstrated by its failure to secure any of the seats in the French National Assembly in 1951 or in the Territorial Assembly in 1952.
In 1952 Sékou Touré became secretary general of the party and began actively to recruit members from the labor unions belonging to the communist-dominated General Confederation of Labor (Confédération Générale du Travail—CGT), in which he held a prominent position. In the early 1950s rising mining production and some new industries had increased the relative size of the industrial labor force; and by 1953 the CGT had about 2,600 members, many, of whom joined the PDG, adding materially to the party's organizational strength. In September of that year the CGT began a territory-wide strike with PDG backing that continued for over two months, largely through Sékou Touré's persistent efforts, to a successful conclusion. The strike achieved a substantial increase in minimum wages, not only in Guinea but also in the rest of French West Africa. Sékou Touré's image, as well as the party's, was tremendously enhanced, and CGT membership rose dramatically to 10,700 in 1954 and 39,000 in 1955.
In August 1953 Sékou Touré won a country-area by-election to the Territorial Assembly, improving his personal stature in the process by defeating a well-known fellow Malinké politician and demonstrating his ability to attract the rural vote. Sékou Touré's strength and that of the PDG were then put to a wider test in the election held in mid-1954 to fill the French National Assembly seat of the deceased Diallo. This became an open contest with African conservatives—supported by the establishment, the traditional chiefs of the Fouta Djallon, and the white residents—who backed Diawadou Barry, a Peul from the Fouta Djallon and head of the African Bloc of Guinea (Bloc Africain de Guinée—BAG).
A third candidate, Ibrahima Barry (in Guinea usually called Barry III), ran under the DSG banner. Diawadou Barry was declared the winner by the government. Sékou Touré, who had received enthusiastic receptions throughout most of Guinea except the Fouta Djallon, protested, and charges of irregularities were rampant, being voiced even in France. Nothing came of these, however. From sometime in 1955 the PDG adopted a new program of political action designed to bring into the party a broad segment of the population. The membership base was declared to be the peasant class; a new dignity was to be accorded women; and youth was to become an active participant in party affairs. Labor would collaborate with the other elements of society in the effort to make the party representative of all Guineans regardless of regional or ethnic origin. PDG membership expanded, and in the election for the three seats in the French National Assembly held in January 1956 PDG candidates took two (one by Saifoulaye Diallo, the other by Sékou Touré); the third was narrowly won by Diawadou Barry of the DSG, who was reelected.
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