Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa

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Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa
Mouvement pour l'évolution sociale de l'Afrique noire
Colors  Black
  Blue
  Red
  Yellow

The Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa (

French colonial territory
.

History

The party, which was initially intended to work as a political movement, was founded by Barthélemy Boganda in Bangui, Ubangi-Shari (later known as the Central African Republic) on 28 September 1949, to connect "all the Blacks of the world"[1] and "to promote the political, economic and social evolution of black Africa, to break down the barriers of tribalism and racism, to replace the degrading notion of colonial subordination with the more human ones of fraternity and cooperation."[2]

The statutes of the movement were written in April 1950, and the group's branches were set up in

Ubangui, Fort Lamy and Brazzaville. The formation of MESAN did not sit well with the French territorial administration.[3] They set up divisions of the Rassemblement du Peuple Français (French People's Party, also known as RPF) in Ubangi-Shari to oppose the MESAN. The movement also encountered resistance in French Equatorial Africa from the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (African Democratic Rally, RDA), a political party initially geared towards Pan-Africanism that later became hostile towards efforts for African independence.[4]

In the

unopposed election
.

On 31 December 1965, General Jean-Bédel Bokassa, a cousin of both Boganda and Dacko, seized power in the CAR through a coup d'état. The next day, 1 January 1966, he proclaimed himself president, prime minister, and head of MESAN.[11] Bokassa stayed in power for the next 13 years. In 1972, he appointed Elisabeth Domitien as vice president of the party, and three years later as prime minister, a first for any woman of an African nation.[12] At the MESAN congress on 4 December 1976, Bokassa instituted a new constitution and declared the republic a monarchy, to be known as the Central African Empire.[13] In September 1979, Bokassa was overthrown and Dacko once again became president of the CAR. On 24 November 1979, he abolished MESAN and replaced it with the Union Démocratique Centrafricaine, which he proclaimed as the new political party for the CAR.[14]

The party was re-established after the return of multi-party politics in the early 1990s. In the

1993 general elections it won a single seat in the National Assembly.[15]

The party nominated only one candidate for the

2011 elections,[16]
failing to win a seat.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election Party candidate Votes Percentage Result
1964 David Dacko 682,607 99.97% Elected Green tickY

National Assembly elections

Election Party leader Votes Percentage Seats +/– Position Government
1952
Barthélémy Boganda
17 / 40
 Increase 17 Increase 2nd Minority government
1957 348,352
50 / 50
 Increase 33 Increase 1st Supermajority government
1959 David Dacko 344,473 97.62%
50 / 50
 Steady Steady 1st Supermajority government
1964 596,687 98.96%
60 / 60
 Increase 10 Steady 1st Sole legal party
1993
1 / 85
 Decrease 59 Decrease 13th Opposition
2011
0 / 100
 Steady Extra-parliamentary

Footnotes

  1. ^ Kalck 2005, p. 135.
  2. National Assembly of France
    . Retrieved 2 March 2008.
  3. ^ Titley 1997, p. 13.
  4. ^ a b Kalck 2005, p. 136.
  5. ISBN 0-313-26257-8
    .
  6. ^ Kalck 2005, p. xxxi.
  7. ^ Kalck 2005, p. 90.
  8. ISBN 978-2-296-02318-5
    .
  9. ^ a b Kalck 2005, p. xxxii.
  10. ISBN 9780810879928
    .
  11. ^ Kalck 2005, pp. 171–172.
  12. ^ Titley 1997, p. 83.
  13. ^ Kalck 2005, pp. 28–29.
  14. ^ Titley 1997, p. 155.
  15. ^ Elections held in 1993 IPU
  16. ^ CAR: Number of National Assembly candidates by party in the 2011 election Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine EISA

Sources

See also
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