The African People's Bloc (, BPA) was a political party in

French Dahomey French Dahomey, officially the Colony of Dahomey and Dependencies (), was a French colony and part of French West Africa from 1894 to 1958. After World War II, by the establishment of the French Fourth Republic in 1947, Dahomey became part of ...

(now

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

History

The party was established in 1946 by

Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin Justin Ahomadegbé-Tomêtin (January 16, 1917 – March 8, 2002) was a Beninese politician most active when his country was known as Dahomey. He arose on a political scene where one's power was dictated by what region of Dahomey one lived i ...

and

Émile Poisson Émile Poisson (25 May 1905 in Ouidah, Dahomey – 4 June 1999 in Paris) was a politician from Benin who served in the French Senate from 1947 to 1955. He was a Multiracial people, métis. Prior to election to the French Senate he had been a s ...

due to their dissatisfaction with the policies of the

Dahomeyan Progressive Union The Dahomeyean Progressive Union (, UPD) was a political party in Dahomey. History The party was established in April 1946 by Augustin Kokou Azango and Émile Derlin Zinsou, and was the first political party in the territory.Patrick Manning (2 ...

(UPD). In the 1946–47 General Council elections the party won 6 of the 30 seats, finishing second to the

;Joseph-Roger de Benoist (1982) Afrique Occidentale française de 1944 à 1960, p537 Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin and Poisson were both elected. The party failed to win a seat in the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

in the 1951 elections, but won four seats in the 1952 Territorial Assembly elections.Sternberger, D, Vogel, B, Nohlen, D & Landfried, K (1978) ''Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Ereste Halbband'', p530 In 1955 the party merged with the UPD to form the

Dahomeyan Democratic Union The Dahomeyan Democratic Union (, UDD) was a political party in French Dahomey. History The UDD was established in 1955 by a merger of the Dahomeyan Progressive Union (UPD) and the African People's Bloc (BPA). It aimed to be a nationwide part ...

.A propos de l’excellente chronique du Professeur Amoussou YEYE, contenu dans lnt
La Nouvelle Tribine, 12 June 2009

References

Defunct political parties in Benin Political parties established in 1946 Political parties disestablished in 1955 {{Benin-party-stub