Dahomeyan Democratic Rally

The Dahomeyan Democratic Rally (French: Rassemblement Démocratique Dahoméen, RDD) was a political party in French Dahomey led by Hubert Maga.

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History

The party was established in August 1957 by a merger of the Dahomeyan Democratic Movement led by Maga and the Independents of the North party led by Paul Darboux.[1] However, Darboux left the party shortly after its establishment and refounded his party as the Union of Independents of Dahomey.[1]

Like most other parties in Dahomey, it was a regional one and was heavily backed by the northern section of the French colony. without much support elsewhere.[2] (particularly among the Bariba)[3][2] However, it suffered from internal rivalries between factions based in Parakou and Nikki and conflict between the Bariba and Dendi.[1]

In 1958 the party merged with the Yoruba-dominated Republican Party of Dahomey (PRD) led by Sourou-Migan Apithy to form the Dahomeyan Progressive Party, which was to be the Dahomeyan branch of the African Regroupment Party.[1] However, internal disagreements led to the parties splitting back into their original forms in 1959.[4] The RDD won 22 seats in the 1959 elections, and in 1960 agreed to merge with the PRD again, this time under the name Dahomeyan Unity Party.[4]

The party was briefly re-established as the Dahomeyan National Union (Union Nationale Dahoméene) following a coup by Christophe Soglo in 1965. However, all parties were banned by Soglo in December 1965.[1]

References
  1. Mathurin C Houngnikpo & Samuel Decalo (2012) Historical Dictionary of Benin, Scarecrow Press, p305
  2. Matthews 1966, p. 141.
  3. Laitin 1986, p. 165
  4. Houngnikpo & Decalo, p306

Bibliography
  • Laitin, David D. (1986), Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious Change Among the Yoruba, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-46790-2, OCLC 12946946.
  • Matthews, Ronald (1966), African Powder Keg: Revolt and Dissent in Six Emergent Nations, London: The Bodley Head, OCLC 246401461.
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