A referendum on the new

constitution of France The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic , and it replaced the Constitution of the Fourth Republic of 1946 with the exception of the preamble per a Constitu ...

was held in

French Somaliland French Somaliland (french: Côte française des Somalis, lit= French Coast of the Somalis so, Xeebta Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which time it became the French Ter ...

on 28 September 1958 as part of a wider referendum held across the

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was the formal end of the "indigenous" () status of French subje ...

. The new constitution would see the country become part of the new French Community if accepted, or result in independence if rejected. It was approved by 75.24% of voters.

Results

The referendum result was in favour of a continued association with France; 75% voted "yes", while 25% were opposed. This was partly due to a combined "yes" vote by the sizable Afar ethnic group and resident Europeans.Lowell Barrington (2006) ''After Independence: Making and Protecting the Nation in Postcolonial and Postcommunist States'', University of Michigan Press, p. 115 There were also allegations of widespread

vote rigging Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...

. According to the UN, there was an inordinate number of invalid ballots in Somali districts, which it suggested implied that the plebiscite had been manipulated. The majority of those who had voted "no" were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia, as had been proposed by

Mahmoud Harbi Mahamoud Harbi Farah ( ar, محمود الحربي, so, Maxamuud Xarbi Faarax) (1921 – 29 September 1960) was a Djiboutian politician of Somali ethnicity. A pan-Somalist, he was the Vice President of the Government Council of French Somal ...

, then Vice President of the Government Council.

References

{{Djiboutian elections

Constitutional referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

1958 referendums Referendums in Djibouti French Somaliland Constitutional referendums September 1958 events in Africa

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...