A constitutional referendum was held in Guinea on 28 September 1958 as part of a wider referendum 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 subj ...
(and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
itself) on whether to adopt the new
French Constitution
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 Consti ...
. If the territory voted to accept the new constitution, it would then have four months to decide whether to
#Preserve the status of
overseas territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
.
#Become a state of the French Community.
#Become an overseas department (part of the French Republic).
Alongside
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesSamuel Decalo. Historical Dictionary of Niger (3rd ed.). Scarecrow Press, Boston & Folkestone, (1997) pp. 56-59 ("Bakary"), 247-255 ("Political Parties"), 272 ("SAWABA")Finn Fuglestad. Djibo Bakary, the French, and the Referendum of 1958 in Niger. The Journal of African History, Vol. 14, No. 2 (1973), pp. 313-330Mamoudou Djibo. Les enjeux politiques dans la colonie du Niger (1944-1960). Autrepart no 27 (2003), pp. 41-60. and ultimately was the only territory to reject the constitution and opt for independence. The
Democratic Party of Guinea
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, which had won all but four seats in the Territorial Assembly election the previous year under the leadership of Ahmed Sékou Touré, pushed for a rejection of the constitution, and on 19 October the party severed its ties with the
African Democratic Rally
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Ethn ...
, whose other members were in favour of retaining ties with France.
The results showed that more than 95% of voters in Guinea voted against the constitution, with a turnout of 85.5%.
Results
Aftermath
Following the referendum, Guinea declared independence on 2 October. The French government reacted badly to the result, and although Touré had not been seeking it, withdrew totally from the country and halted any development assistance. As a result, the Guinean government turned to the Communist bloc to request aid, a step which the French government used in pressuring Western countries not to accept the Guinean independence. Upon independence Touré assumed the office of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, and the country soon became a
one-party state
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
. Despite various assassination attempts and coup plots, Touré ruled until his death in 1984.
Constitutional
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these prin ...