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28 CHAPTER 1enlargement of the competencies of the territorial assemblies, the institution ofuniversal (territorial) suffrage, and the decentralisation and africanization of theadministration. The Assemblées Territoriales now held voting power over theterritorial budget and internal economic and social policies. In the meantime,colonial subjects would acquire many of the rights of metropolitan citizens, althoughthey never gained full French citizenship on the same basis as theirmetropolitan counterparts in the Union.But while the demand for it grew stronger independence was still notreached. During his African tour in August 1958, de Gaulle proposed to reformthe Union Française, together with the French Republic, which was nearing itsfifth incarnation. The new Communauté Française would hold the same powersas the Union Française, but the former territories would formally becomeindependent republics, with authority over most domains, with the notable exceptionsof foreign policy, defence and finance. A referendum on the constitutionof the Fifth Republic, to be held in September 1958, would be decisive onthe membership of the new republics. Voting in favour of the CommunautéFrançaise would mean a vote for continued partial dependency. A vote againstthe Communauté would mean direct independence. With the exception ofGuinée, all territories opted for inclusion in the new Communauté Française. InNovember 1958, the colony Soudan Français was transformed into the RépubliqueSoudanaise, member republic of the Communauté Française, with itsown Assembly and a ministerial cabinet presided over by the Governor, butmanned by Soudanese politicians.The creation of the Communauté Française and its adhering republics meantdissolution of the supra-territorial organisation of AOF, which many WestAfrican political leaders, in fact many West Africans in general, saw as a decisivesetback. 12 Daouda Gary-Tounkara has argued that the transfer of powerfrom the federal structure of French West Africa to the various semi independentrepublics was seen by many of the federation’s inhabitants and leadingpoliticians as a form of political divide and rule, as to many French WestAfricans, the federation had more political, social and economic meaning thanits constituent territories. 13 The dissolution of AOF was a disappointment formost who had hoped that their territories would remain united. Therefore, a newform of regional integration was looked for: a Francophone West African Federation.The Union Soudanaise – Rassemblement Démocratique Africaine (US-RDA) took a leading role in its shaping.Within the West Africa-wide RDA there were two visions on the formfederalism should take. The first, advocated by the US-RDA under Modibo1213Based on Gam, P. 1965. CHEAM 4022.Gary-Tounkara, D. 2008.