Guinea - Independence
In June 1958 General de Gaulle returned to power in France and, in the draft Constitution of the Fifth Republic, the French Union was replaced by the French Community, a new kind of association between France and its overseas possessions. The draft envisaged a free association between France and its former colonies, in which the former would serve as senior partner.
The federal powers of the French Community—foreign affairs, defense, and basic policies on the economy, finance, strategic raw materials, and higher education—were clearly delineated. Its organs, under an elected president (who was also the president of the French Republic), were the Executive Council (composed of the president, the prime ministers of member states, and the French ministers concerned with the community's affairs); the Senate (with a membership elected indirectly by each member state in proportion to its population); and the Court of Arbitration. The draft constitution was submitted to Metropolitan France and all overseas components of the French Union in a general referendum on September 28, 1958.
A free choice to accept or reject the draft constitution was given, but in a speech in Conakry in August 1958 General de Gaulle had stated that rejection would result in complete independence—outside the community—and strongly implied that undesirable consequences might well stem from a "no" vote. Sékou Touré expressed great opposition to the lack of provision in the new constitution for a federal structure for French West Africa (and also for French Equatorial Africa), which he felt necessary to establish equality with Metropolitan France in a possible confederation of equals. Nor did the proposed constitution otherwise provide for a strong federal legislative body of supranational character but left final control in the hands of the French National Assembly.
The French refusal to consider formation of what Guinean leaders considered a genuine federal community or to acknowledge the right of each state to opt (in essence at some future date) for independence led to a call by a PDG territorial conference in mid-September 1958 for a nationwide "no" vote. Leaders of the BAG and DSG joined Sékou Touré in a communiqué asking for a "no" vote. The result was an overwhelming ballot for independence (over 1.1 million "no" votes against about 57,000 "yes" votes) that reflected in part the growth of nationalism in Guinea since the 1950s and in part the attainment of political ascendancy achieved by the PDG, notably the control secured in the election of village and district councils in 1957.
On October 2, 1958, independence was formally proclaimed by the Territorial Assembly, and the country was named the Republic of Guinea. The assembly was transformed into the National Sovereign Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution; the Government Council resigned; and Sékou Touré, as leader of the majority party, assumed the task of forming a new government.
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