73-693: Presidential Council may refer to: Presidential Council (Benin) Presidential Council of the People's Republic of Hungary Presidential Council of Iran Presidency Council of Iraq Presidential Council (Libya) Presidential Council (South Yemen) Presidential Council of the Soviet Union Presidential Council (Turkey) Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen, created in 2022 Andean Presidential Council, part of
146-467: A civilian leader of the country, Apithy, Ahomadégbé, and Maga tried to return to the country but were informed that their plane would be shot down if they entered Dahomey airspace; they instead flew to neighboring Togo. Zinsou, who had a history of advocacy against the policies of the military, quickly drew the ire of the military leaders by pursuing a host of policies without consultation with them. In addition, to control continued deficits, Zinsou instituted
219-478: A council which held all legislative and executive power in the state of Dahomey. Following independence from France , the Republic of Dahomey saw a division of the country between different political/ethnic parties with one party representing the northern part of the country, one party representing the former Kingdom of Dahomey in the southwest, and one party representing Porto-Novo in the southeast. The result
292-473: A military coup was started on 26 October 1972 which removed Ahomadégbé from power and ended the Presidential Council. Major Kerekou, a protege of Kouandété, led the first armor company of the military to break into a Presidential Council meeting, where he declared the end of the Presidential Council. Kerekou announced the coup on national radio by saying that the "three headed figure [was] truly
365-549: A monster" beset by "congenital deficiency...notorious inefficiency and...unpardonable incompetence." Similarly to the coup in 1963, the military intervention was viewed favorably by much of the population of the country. Kouandété was released from prison and Kerekou named himself the new head of state appointing military officers to the various ministerial posts. All the senior military officers were discharged from their positions. An alleged counter-coup led in May 1973 by Colonel Alley
438-475: A new system of government with Apithy being appointed the head of state and Ahomadégbé the head of government. However, the division between these roles and the responsibilities between the two leaders was not clearly defined. During the 1963 coup , Maga and many of his inner circle were arrested and tried for mismanagement of public funds. In the new arrangement, Apithy and Ahomadégbéd wrestled constantly with one another for power. Seeing an opportunity to become
511-480: A number of austerity measures and as a result alienated unions and the urban population. The result was that on 10 December 1969, Zinsou was taken into custody by military officers organized by Kouandété and Zinsou was sent to a remote military garrison near Natitingou . Following the coup, Kouandété found that he did not have the support to rule throughout the entire military, and so instead Paul-Emile de Souza (the director of military affairs for Zinsou's government)
584-489: A second five-year term in the March 2001 presidential election under controversial circumstances. In the first round he took 45.4% of the vote; Soglo, who took second place, and parliament speaker Houngbédji, who took third, both refused to participate in the second round, alleging fraud and saying that they did not want to legitimize the vote by participating in it. This left the fourth-place finisher, Amoussou, to face Kérékou in
657-587: A threat to these new positions. However, all three members stood together for the ceremony and power was transferred from Maga to Ahomadégbé. Maga declared the Presidential Council to be "one of the most beneficial institutions" because it allowed the country to heal. The alliance between Maga and Ahomadégbé which had allowed Maga to govern the country quickly broke apart, and instead Maga and Apithy made an alliance which kept Maga's associates in their ministerial positions and prevented Ahomadégbé from effectively governing. The only major policy effort pushed by Ahomadégbé
730-479: A variety of mostly Mahi and Bariba peoples. After World War II, the colonies of French West Africa began a 15-year process towards independence. French Dahomey, like many other colonies, saw domestic political parties emerge in the mid-1950s. However, in contrast to many of the other colonies, political parties in French Dahomey did not become predominant through the whole colony, but largely adhered to
803-575: A vote of the majority could pass policies. Ministry posts in the country would be divided evenly between the three members of the council with each one appointing four ministers, and the sitting president would have the power to appoint the Minister of the Military and the Minister of the Interior. Each individual also pledged not to abuse their control of the military to try and remain in power after
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#1732772017995876-696: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Presidential Council (Benin) The Presidential Council (French: Conseil Présidentiel ) was a triumvirate system of government in the Republic of Dahomey (present-day Benin ) from 7 May 1970 until 26 October 1972. The Presidential Council included Hubert Maga (former president from 1960 to 1963), Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin (former prime minister from 1964 to 1965), and Sourou-Migan Apithy (former president from 1964 to 1965) as equal members of
949-561: The Andean Community of Nations Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Presidential Council . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Presidential_Council&oldid=1081566129 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1022-463: The 1960s but had withdrawn in the chaos of 1970. Maga was able to secure a new contract with Shell Oil to begin a 9-year exploration deal in 1971. The agreement with the unions and other investments within the country were largely financed through a significant loan from the French government. However, at the same time, the three members of the council were provided significant personal wealth through
1095-532: The 1980s, provoking widespread unrest in 1989. A student strike began in January of that year; subsequently strikes among various elements of society increased in frequency and the nature of their demands grew broader: whereas initially they had focused on economic issues such as salary arrears, this progressed to include demands for political reform. In the period of reforms towards multiparty democracy in Africa at
1168-462: The 1990 National Conference, which was nationally televised, Kérékou spoke to the Archbishop of Cotonou , Isidore de Souza , confessing guilt and begging forgiveness for the flaws of his regime. An observer described it as a "remarkable piece of political theater", full of cultural symbolism and significance; in effect, Kérékou was seeking forgiveness from his people. Such a gesture, so unusual for
1241-465: The African leaders of the time, could have fatally weakened Kérékou's political standing, but he performed the gesture in such a way that, far from ending his political career, it instead served to symbolically redeem him and facilitate his political rehabilitation, while also "securing him immunity from prosecution". Kérékou shrewdly utilized the timing and setting: "Culturally as well as theologically it
1314-654: The Ambassador of France while he was still the Vice President. Unfortunately giving political positions and channeling money to the north caused severe budgetary problems in the country which eventually led Maga to freeze wages for public employees leading to a general strike by unionists and students in October 1963. On 28 October, Christophe Soglo , the Army Chief of Staff, removed Maga from power and created
1387-647: The National Assembly. Apithy won the 1958 election in the colony to select the Premier who would guide the country to independence and lead until the first elections. Following independence in 1960, Dahomey had its first elections in December. As a result of Fon ethnic identification with Ahomadégbé and perceived corruption and ineffectiveness of the Apithy administration, Ahomadégbé made large gains in
1460-544: The Porto-Novo region traditionally aligned with Apithy. Apithy responded to this by making a parliamentary alliance with Maga which made Maga the first President of Dahomey and made Apithy the first Minister of Finance and then later the Vice President. To consolidate his power, Maga promoted a number of allies and people from the north through the new positions in the country's civil service. In addition, he tried to weaken his ally's political power by appointing Apithy to be
1533-841: The President of the country able to implement many of the ongoing tasks of managing the military and civil service in the country. The various ministerial positions would be divided between the three leaders; however, the Ministry of the Interior and the Minister of the Army would be appointed by the sitting president. It was decided that Maga would be the first President from 1970 until 1972, followed by Ahomadégbé until 1974, and then Apithy until 1976. One peaceful transition occurred with Hubert Maga giving power to Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin on 7 May 1972. However, stalled politics ensued with Maga and Apithy working to undermine Ahomadégbé's ability to govern and
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#17327720179951606-412: The Presidential Council was ended on 26 October 1972 when a military coup led by Mathieu Kérékou assumed power and ruled the country until 1991. The colony of French Dahomey was created as a part of French West Africa in 1904. The colony was constructed of two coastal kingdoms with a long history of antagonism with one another ( Dahomey and Porto-Novo ) with a large area to the north controlled by
1679-449: The army in 1987. It has been suggested that Kérékou's move to Marxism-Leninism was motivated mainly by pragmatic considerations, and that Kérékou himself was not actually a leftist radical; the new ideology offered a means of legitimization, a way of distinguishing the new regime from those that had preceded it, and was based on broader unifying principles than the politics of ethnicity. Kérékou's regime initially included officers from both
1752-403: The arrangement. Each was provided significant funds to spend on their presidential residences, payment for many members of a personal staff, and given identical Mercedes-Benz W108s . Trade from the country increased by 14% during the Presidential Council although large trade and budget deficits remained. On foreign policy, the Republic of Dahomey split with France and other African countries on
1825-504: The beginning of the 1990s, Benin moved onto this path early, with Kérékou being forced to make concessions to popular discontent. Benin's early and relatively smooth transition may be attributed to the particularly dismal economic situation in the country, which seemed to preclude any alternative. In the midst of increasing unrest, Kérékou was re-elected as president by the National Assembly in August 1989, but in December 1989 Marxism-Leninism
1898-432: The council would serve as the head of state for two-year periods before rotating to other members until all three leaders had held the position of president. The individual president would govern some of the affairs of the state, managing the civil service, military and bureaucracy. However, policy decisions would be set by unanimous decision of the entire Presidential Council, and if a unanimous decision could not be reached,
1971-454: The country considered Dahomey to be close to civil war. On 16 April 1970, Ahomadégbé and Maga met in the town of Savé , under French pressure, and agreed to the notion of a single party controlling government with a rotating presidency. Apithy did not attend the meeting and rejected the proposal, suggesting to the military that they instead pick one of their own to be the next president. The military leaders rejected this proposal and endorsed
2044-402: The country since independence with Apithy, Ahomadégbé, Maga, and Zinsou running against one another. The military decided to hold the elections on a staggered schedule with different areas of the country voting on different dates. This staggering meant that each of the candidates strategically tried to gain votes in later voting regions based upon the earlier results: bribery and irregularities in
2117-456: The country, all three candidates accepted the military governing council's resolution (written closely with Maga), which stipulated that starting in May 1970, each of the three main candidates would be part of a Presidential Council that would hold all legislative and executive power in the government and decide on all major policy issues. The charter of the Council established that one member of
2190-526: The election were rampant. Just before voting began in Atakora , the last department to vote which was a stronghold for Maga, Ahomadégbé supporters instigated violence to undercut turnout. Maga would have won the presidency if he had earned the most votes in Atakora, but instead of allowing the vote to go forward, de Souza suspended the election and immediately called on all sides to come to an agreement forming
2263-685: The issues of China and South Africa. On the recognition of China, Dahomey broke with France and sided with the United States in voting against the recognition of Communist China in the United Nations. On the issue of South Africa, Dahomey was one of five countries to walk out of discussions in the Union of African States on opening contact with the apartheid regime in South Africa. Dahomey supported opening contact and trade relations with
Presidential Council - Misplaced Pages Continue
2336-620: The late 1970s, the regime jettisoned much of its radicalism and settled onto a more moderately socialist course as Kérékou consolidated his personal control. Its relations with France and other African governments in the region deteriorated because of the Marxism claimed by the Beninese regime and the support offered to the Polisario Front for the liberation of Western Sahara. The French government of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing feared
2409-461: The members of the council waiting for their turns to govern, domestic and foreign policy were able to come to the fore in 1971 (the first year without a major political crisis in the government since 1966). Although some small policies were begun, the council passed few policies and largely simply "froze the status quo." Various development attempts dominated the domestic agenda during Maga's administration. Unlike many other countries in Africa at
2482-400: The mid-1970s to the late 1970s. In 1974, under the influence of young revolutionaries - the "Ligueurs" - the government embarked on a socialist program: nationalization of strategic sectors of the economy, reform of the education system, establishment of agricultural cooperatives and new local government structures, and a campaign to eradicate " feudal forces" including tribalism . Beginning in
2555-407: The military opposed to the government, many of the coup leaders of the 1960s had largely left the country or withdrawn from politics. The relationship between the three leaders remained tense, but a Maga-Ahomadégbé alliance against Apithy on a number of issues kept the triumvirate functioning during Maga's tenure. With unions largely docile, the high ranks of the military committed to the council, and
2628-422: The military was able to get the three main candidates, Maga, Ahomadégbé, and Apithy to agree to form a Presidential Council with all three holding all executive and legislative authority. In the charter of the Presidential Council, each of the three leaders would sit on a Presidential Council which would be tasked with approving all major policy decisions of the country. At the same time, each would get two years as
2701-424: The next government. The situation became quite tense with each of the sides making threats and refusing to meet with each other. Maga threatened that the north would secede if his victory was not validated, and Apithy threatened that his base of Porto-Novo would join with Nigeria. Ethnic tensions increased with these threats and with mass migration of people back to their traditional ethnic territories. Many inside
2774-402: The north and south of the country, but as the years passed the northerners (like Kérékou himself) became clearly dominant, undermining the idea that the regime was not based in ethnicity. By officially adopting Marxism-Leninism, Kérékou may also have wanted to win the support of the country's leftists. Kérékou's regime was rigid and vigorous in pursuing its newly adopted ideological goals from
2847-482: The north, in the rest of the country he found little support. Kérékou was thus the first mainland African president to lose power through a popular election. He apologized for "deplorable and regrettable incidents" that occurred during his rule. After losing the election in March 1991, Kérékou left the political scene and "withdrew to total silence", another move that was interpreted as penitential. Kérékou reclaimed
2920-505: The polls to decide who would succeed Kérékou as President of Benin. Yayi Boni defeated Adrien Houngbédji in a run-off vote on 19 March, and Kérékou left office at the end of his term, at midnight on 6 April 2006. Born and baptized in the Roman Catholic faith, although he was a lapsed adherent, Kérékou allegedly converted to Islam in 1980 while on a visit to Libya, and changed his first name to Ahmed, but he later returned to
2993-399: The position. Apithy, Ahomadégbé, and Maga declared a general boycott of the election which proved highly successful with only 33% of the eligible voters casting ballots. With such low turnout, the military invalidated the election results and, after consulting with unions and other activists in the country, the military selected Zinsou as the new president. With the appointment of Zinsou as
Presidential Council - Misplaced Pages Continue
3066-709: The precolonial regions. In the northern part of the country, the Groupement Ethnique du Nord and then the Rassemblement Démocratique du Dahomé led by Hubert Maga were the most dominant party. In the area that was formerly the kingdom of Dahomey, the Union Démocratique du Dahomé led by Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin became the most powerful party. And in Porto-Novo, the Parti des Nationialistes Dahoméens led by Sourou-Migan Apithy
3139-529: The presidency in the March 1996 election . Soglo's economic reforms and his alleged dictatorial tendencies had caused his popularity to suffer. Although Kérékou received fewer votes than Soglo in the first round, he then defeated Soglo in the second round, taking 52.5% of the vote. Kérékou was backed in the second round by third place candidate Adrien Houngbédji and fourth place candidate Bruno Amoussou ; as in 1991, Kérékou received very strong support from northern voters, but he also improved his performance in
3212-412: The primary political power in the government, Ahomadégbé released Maga from prison and the coalition between the two leaders named Ahomadégbé the provisional president of the legislature on 27 November 1965. Soglo grew increasingly concerned with the situation and believed that Ahomadégbé was forming an alliance with Soglo's second in command (Colonel Philippe Aho, who was a Fon like Ahomadégbé). The result
3285-485: The regime, unlike much of the rest of the African states, and abstained on the final vote. Military tension increased with a mutiny in the Ouidah barracks on 28 January 1972 by young officers demanding the removal of de Souza from his position at the head of the military. This coup was ended when Maga sent two military officers to discuss with the mutineers and made them some agreements which have never bee disclosed. This
3358-628: The removal of Soglo from power, the military decided to transition to a civilian government and appointed Colonel Alphonse Alley , Soglo's chief of staff, as the provisional president until such a transition could occur. A new constitution was prepared and approved in a vote by 92% of the population in March 1968. In the elections which followed to elect a civilian president, all former presidents, prime ministers, and ministers were prohibited from running. This excluded Apithy, Ahomadégbé, Maga, and former foreign minister Émile Derlin Zinsou from running for
3431-471: The run-off, and Kérékou easily won with 83.6% of the vote. It was subsequently discovered that the American corporation Titan gave more than two million dollars to Kérékou's re-election campaign as a bribe. During Kérékou's second period in office his government followed a liberal economic path. The period also saw Benin take part in international peacekeeping missions in other African states. Kérékou
3504-458: The shared presidency idea. Apithy then agreed to participate in the Presidential Council. Zinsou, with only 3% of the vote, was ignored in the discussions and left the country for France. Historian Samuel Decalo commented that although coups and crises were regular in the country's short history, "the April 1970 crisis was the most ominous Dahomey had ever faced." To reduce the tension throughout
3577-539: The south. Soglo alleged fraud, but this was rejected by the Constitutional Court, which confirmed Kérékou's victory. When taking the oath of office, Kérékou left out a portion that referred to the "spirits of the ancestors" because he had become a born-again Christian after his defeat by Soglo. He was subsequently forced to retake the oath including the reference to spirits. Kérékou was re-elected for
3650-539: The spread of Marxism in West Africa and decided to react. He was joined by Félix Houphouet-Boigny ( Ivory Coast ), Gnassingbé Eyadéma ( Togo ), Joseph-Désiré Mobutu ( Zaire ) and Hassan II ( Morocco ), who, in addition to the diplomatic isolation and attempts to destabilize Benin economically, decided to organize an attempted coup d'état. This was Operation Shrimp , entrusted to the French mercenary Bob Denard , on 17 January 1977, but it failed completely. It
3723-542: The state. The country was renamed from the Republic of Dahomey to the People's Republic of Benin a year later; the banks and petroleum industry were nationalized. The People's Revolutionary Party of Benin ( Parti de la révolution populaire du Bénin , PRPB) was established as the sole ruling party. In 1980, Kérékou was elected president by the Revolutionary National Assembly; he retired from
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#17327720179953796-405: The time, this did not involve nationalizing many of the industries in the country. Instead the country sought to expand its foreign tourism sector and oil exploration along the coast. The country, using French and German investment, began a series of projects to create resorts and tourist potential along the coast of the country. Union Oil had begun oil exploration off the coast of the country in
3869-552: The two-year period had ended. Under the chairmanship of de Souza, the military was largely stabilized in its leadership and returned to the barracks. On 7 May 1970, Maga became the head of state and began governing the country. Although unions and the military had agreed to the agreement and all three candidates supported it, there remained tension between the various powers in the new arrangement. In order to appease unions, Maga promised that public service union salaries would be immune from any budget cuts. Although there were forces in
3942-407: The upper hand over Apithy and become the leader in the country only to be deposed two days later by the military. Five years of political instability, including multiple other military coups and a failed election eventually resulted in the 1970 Presidential election which largely divided the country and, when there was violence, the military annulled the results. In the political crisis that resulted,
4015-683: The use of the name Mathieu. This alleged conversion may have been designed to please the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and obtain financial and military support. Alternatively, the conversion story may have been a rumor planted by some of his opponents in order to destabilize his regime. He subsequently became a born-again Christian . Some Vodun believers in Benin regarded him as having magical powers, explaining his ability to survive repeated coup attempts during his military rule. Nicknamed "the chameleon" from an early point in his career, Kérékou's motto
4088-476: The year Maga had handed over power to Justin Ahomadegbé ). During his first two years in power, Kérékou expressed only nationalism and said that the country's revolution would not "burden itself by copying foreign ideology ... We do not want communism or capitalism or socialism. We have our own Dahomean social and cultural system." On 30 November 1974, however, he announced the adoption of Marxism-Leninism by
4161-482: Was "the branch will not break in the arms of the chameleon". The nickname and motto he adopted were full of cultural symbolism, articulating and projecting his power and ability. Unlike some past rulers who had adopted animal symbolism intending to project a violent, warlike sense of power, Kérékou's symbolic animal suggested skill and cleverness; his motto suggested that he would keep the branch from breaking, but implicitly warned of what could happen to "the branch" if it
4234-500: Was a Beninese politician who served as president of the People's Republic of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and the Republic of Benin from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a military coup, he ruled the country for 18 years, for most of that time under an officially Marxist–Leninist ideology, before he was stripped of his powers by the National Conference of 1990. He was defeated in the 1991 presidential election but
4307-403: Was a highly unstable system of governance with the leaders of each of these different parties struggling with each other for power. Hubert Maga from the north was deposed in a military coup in 1963 which eventually appointed Apithy from Porto-Novo and Ahomadégbé from the former kingdom of Dahomey as the divided rulers of the country. Ahomadégbé was eventually able to gain the support of Maga to gain
4380-597: Was barred from running again in 2006 on two counts. The constitution not only stipulated an absolute two-term limit, but also required that presidential candidates be younger than 70; he turned 70 in 2003, during his second term. Kérékou said in July 2005 that he would not attempt to amend the constitution to allow him to run for a third term. "If you don't leave power," he said, "power will leave you." There was, however, speculation that he had wanted it to be changed, but faced too much opposition. On 5 March 2006, voters went to
4453-532: Was dropped as the state ideology, and a national conference was held in February 1990. The conference turned out to be hostile to Kérékou and declared its own sovereignty; despite the objections of some of his officers to this turn of events, Kérékou did not act against the conference, although he labelled the conference's declaration of sovereignty a "civilian coup". During the transition that followed, Kérékou remained president but lost most of his power. During
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#17327720179954526-491: Was followed on 23 March with a double coup attempt (two simultaneous coups organized by two different factions within the military) which only resulted in an attempted assassination attempt against de Souza who was slightly injured in the attack. The leaders of the two different factions (one faction led by Kouandété and one led by supporters of Zinsou), included 20 different officers and many civilians. Many were tried and six were sentenced to death, including Kouandété, although he
4599-616: Was his cousin, was made chairman of the Military Revolutionary Council. After Kérékou attended French military schools from 1968 to 1970, Maga made him a major, deputy chief of staff, and commander of the Ouidah paratroop unit. Kérékou seized power in Dahomey in a military coup on 26 October 1972, ending a system of government in which three members of a presidential council were to rotate power (earlier in
4672-451: Was hoped that the nationalizations of the 1970s would help develop the economy, but it remained in a very poor condition. Kérékou began reversing course in the early 1980s, closing down numerous state-run companies and attempting to attract foreign investment. He also accepted an IMF structural readjustment programme in 1989, agreeing to austerity measures that severely cut state expenditure. The economic situation continued to worsen during
4745-430: Was impossible to refuse forgiveness on these terms." World Bank economist Nicéphore Soglo , chosen as prime minister by the conference, took office in March, and a new constitution was approved in a December 1990 referendum. Multi-party elections were held in March 1991, which Kérékou lost, obtaining only about 32% of the vote in the second round against Prime Minister Soglo; while he won very large vote percentages in
4818-416: Was named the provisional head of state as the head of a three-person Military directorate (with Kouandété and Colonel Benoît Sinzogan holding the other seats). The military directorate decided to release Zinsou and hold new presidential elections in 1970 without the restrictions of the 1968 elections, thus allowing Apithy, Ahomadégbé, and Maga to run. The 1970 election included all of the civilian leaders of
4891-437: Was never executed by Maga or Ahomadégbé for fear of a hostile military reaction. With the scheduled transfer of power from Maga to Ahomadégbé on 7 May 1972, there were rumors throughout the country that the transfer would not occur (often rumored that troops loyal to Maga would march south and prevent the transfer). Maga had promoted many northerners through the civil service and military ranks and many of them saw Ahomadégbé as
4964-510: Was not "in the arms of the chameleon"—political chaos. To some, his nickname seemed particularly apt as he successfully adapted himself to a new political climate and neoliberal economic policies in the 1990s. He used the campaign slogan, "Experience in the service of youth." After leaving office in 2006, Kérékou stayed out of politics and spent time at his homes in Cotonou and Natitingou in northwestern Benin, his native region. He suffered
5037-616: Was returned to the presidency in the 1996 election and controversially re-elected in 2001 . Kérékou was born in 1933 in Kouarfa village, in north-west French Dahomey . After having studied at military schools in modern-day Mali and Senegal, Kérékou served in the military by joining the French Army in 1960. Following independence, from 1961 to 1963 he was an aide-de-camp to Dahomeyan President Hubert Maga . Following Maurice Kouandété 's coup d'état in December 1967, Kérékou, who
5110-642: Was suppressed by Kerekou and Alley was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The members of the Presidential Council and other prominent political figures were arrested and imprisoned or placed under house arrest until 1981. After they were released from house arrest in 1981, Apithy, Ahomadégbé, and Maga all moved to Paris. Following the coup, Kerekou proceeded to rule the country as a military dictator until 1991. Books and Journal articles News articles (organized chronologically) Mathieu K%C3%A9r%C3%A9kou Mathieu Kérékou ( French pronunciation: [ma.tjø ke.ʁe.ku] ; 2 September 1933 – 14 October 2015)
5183-508: Was that Soglo suspended the constitution and removed Ahomadégbé from power on 29 November. Following the 1965 coup , Apithy, Ahomadégbé, and Maga all went into exile in France. Soglo ruled for two years until union strikes and dissatisfaction within the ranks of the military led to the 17 December 1967 coup where two junior military officers, Maurice Kouandété and Mathieu Kérékou , overthrew Soglo and sent him into exile in France. Following
5256-492: Was the declaration to create a single political party from the various regional political parties which would be the only party allowed when the Presidential Council would end, although in practice the divisions between the parties largely remained. The tensions between the three members reportedly became their most tense with the planned visit of French President Georges Pompidou in November. After almost 6 months in power,
5329-509: Was the major party. Although there were some efforts by the various parties to become predominant throughout the colony, the division of the colony into three distinct spheres for the different parties had largely solidified by 1957. Apithy was the major political leader in the colony, being elected twice to the French National Assembly in 1946 and 1951. Maga was also elected in 1951 as the colony's second representative to
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