page_title: Hubert Maga
section_title: New constitution and official election
hierarchical_section_title: Hubert Maga / President of Dahomey / New constitution and official election
caption_attribution_description: Busy street in Cotonou, Benin
context_page_description: Coutoucou Hubert Maga was a politician from Dahomey. He arose on a political scene where one's power was dictated by what region in Dahomey one lived in. Born a peasant in 1916, Maga served as a schoolmaster from 1936 to 1945, during which time he gradually gained considerable influence among the uneducated. He was elected to Dahomey's territorial assembly in 1947 and founded the Northern Ethnical Group, later renamed the Dahomey Democratic Rally. In 1951, Maga was elected to the French National Assembly, where he served in various positions, including premier from 1959 to 1960. When Dahomey gained its independence from France on August 1, 1960, Maga was appointed to the presidency, and was officially elected to that post on December 11.
  During Maga's term of office, Dahomey's economy collapsed; there was little foreign investment and unemployment rose. In response, he launched a four-year plan in January 1962, the basis of which was to increase agricultural production by forcing the nation's youths to work on the land.
context_section_description: Following the motion of censure's defeat, U.D.D. deputies began to resign from their jobs, and five were dismissed. They were replaced by deputies from the P.R.D. On November 13 the P.R.D. and R.D.D. officially merged to form the Dahomeyan Unity Party (P.D.U.) and Maga was elected as its leader. He created a constitution for Dahomey, styling it after that of the French Fifth Republic. The assembly, now led by Djibode Aplogan, adopted the constitution on November 25. The new constitution gave the president the right to ask the National Assembly to reconsider a bill if it did not pass with two-thirds of the votes, and submit referendums. Maga assumed the powers of Commander in Chief of the Dahomeyan Army, although he did not wear its uniform until its capture of the Portuguese enclave of Ajuda on August 1, 1961.
  A recently passed electoral law meant that every party that stood in the upcoming official elections had to list candidates for all 60 National Assembly deputies, as well as for president and vice president. Maga's only presidential opponent was Ahomadegbé-Tomêtin, whose running mate was Sacca Koto Ngobi. On December 11, 1960, Maga was formally elected as president for a five-year term; he received 468,002 votes, and Apithy vice president with the same term of office. Of Dahomey's 971,012 registered voters, 71 percent voted in the election. The P.D.U. received 69 percent of the vote and all 60 seats in the National Assembly. Although the U.D.D. received 31 percent of the popular vote, it did not have a single deputy in the assembly.
  Maga's original cabinet resigned on December 29. He named the new ministers in his government the next day, and chose many leaders from the former R.D.D. and P.N.D. He appointed Arouna Mama as the Minister of the Interior; Assogba Oké to the post of Foreign Affairs; Paul Darboux to Trade and Economics; Sébastien Dassi to Agriculture; Victorien Gbaguidi to Transport and Public Works; Joseph Kekeh to Justice; René Deroux to Health and Social Affairs; Michel Ahouanmenou to Education; and Alexandre Adandé as Finance Minister. Newcomers were Bertin Borna, Labor and Civil Service; and Albert Teveodjré, the new Information Minister. To prevent a backlash from the opposition, Maga and his ministers moved their offices from Porto Novo to Cotonou, where the U.D.D had received 90 percent of the vote in the recent election.
caption: After the 1960 election, Maga and his ministers moved their offices from Porto Novo to Cotonou (pictured).
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