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CREATING MALI 35Koutiala, Bougouni, and Goundam, home of the influential Tamasheq chiefsand PSP delegates Mohamed Ali ag Attaher Insar and his brother MohamedElmehdi. In 1957 only Fily Dabo Sissoko's home Canton, Bafoulabé, togetherwith Koutiala and Macina, remained faithful to the PSP. By 1958, the PSPplayed no role whatsoever in Soudanese politics, and after their final defeat inthe March 1959 elections the party was simply dissolved. 28 Smaller regionalpolitical parties such as the Union Dogon and the Union Démocratique Ségovienne,headed by Jean Sylvandre, a colonial civil servant from the Antilles,were simply banned on the grounds that regionalism was a dangerous divisiveforce. 29Kel Tamasheq and party politicsIt has often been observed that the Tamasheq community was not activelyinvolved in the politics of the post-war period, that they did not participate inelections due to a lack of understanding and interest, and that none of theirleaders, also through lack of interest or understanding, presented themselves forelections. This picture is only partly true and does no justice to the complexitiesof the political arena in Soudan Français and to the differences within the KelTamasheq world during that period. The passive interest in, and knowledge of,political developments of the Kel Tamasheq is perhaps underestimated so far.First of all, interest in elections and politics was low throughout the Soudanesecountryside, which had long regarded politics as a city affair. In 1955, only 26%of the total Soudanese population was registered as enfranchised. 30 Universalsuffrage was not introduced until 1956. But even then, voting percentages inSoudan Français were generally among the lowest in AOF. 31 That the colonialadministration often organised the elections at the start of the rainy season, thebusiest time of year for farmers and nomads alike, did nothing to improve theirinterest. Additional handicaps to prospective nomad voters were the lack ofinformation on upcoming elections, a shortage of ballot boxes, and the amountof time needed to get to existing polling stations. In general it can be said thatthe Kel Tamasheq inhabiting the Niger Bend were more active in party politicsthan those inhabiting the extreme north. Pierre Boilley analyses the elections28293031Ibid.: 279.Ernst, K. 1976: 93.Les partis politiques en AOF et les consultations électorales de 1945 à 1955. No. 8:Soudan. ANSOM – 1affpol/2263/6.Synthèse politique concernant les territoires d’Outre-Mer et les territoires soustutelle, Janvier 1956. ANSOM – 1affpol/2238/1. This report notes that turnout in the1956 elections for the territorial assemblies did not exceed 50% in any territory.