existed. When many of the other parties in West and Equatorial Africa proposed another attempt at rapprochement between the parties, the RDA responded with little enthusiasm. This eventually led to the creation of the African Regroupment Party (, PRA) which would serve as a rival to the RDA between the various other parties: including bringing together the African Convention and the Socialists. By mid-1958, French Africa along the Atlantic had developed largely a two-party system. With the dissolution of the French Fourth Republic, the RDA became a key party shaping the colonial relationship that would exist in the next French state. DeGaulle appointed Houphouët-Boigny to assist in developing the specific laws for the new constitution which would govern the colonies. Houphouët-Boigny pushed for a strong federation linking France with the colonies, while the PRA, led by Senghor, pushed for a looser confederation arrangement. In a meeting on 18 July 1958, the PRA and RDA agreed that the eventual arrangement must include the right to self-determination for the colonies. This resulted in a law which would give each colony the right to vote to join a newly organized French Community which would keep the colonies linked to France but also provide some degree of self-rule, or to declare independence immediately. The RDA was divided on this position. The leaders with the most linkages to the trade-unions, mainly Touré in Guinea, generally believed that it was best for the French colonies to declare independence immediately. Houphouët-Boigny and others, instead, pushed for joining the French Community and remaining very close with France. In addition, the Ivory Coast, as the wealthiest colony in French West Africa, opposed the proposal from Keïta that the colonies should become independent together as an African federation. Mortimer claims that the key person holding the party together and working towards a compromise had been Daniel Ouezzin Coulibaly who died suddenly on 7 September, thus sealing the fate of the party. The result was that the RDA, as a regional party, essentially ended with the independence vote in 1958. Guinea was the only country to vote for independence, incurring the immediate wrath of DeGaulle and Houphouët-Boigny who cut off aid to the colony and the French removed all personnel and equipment that was in the colony. Ivory Coast voted for the French Community and Houphouët-Boigny became a leader of the Conseil de l'Entente, a block of countries including the Ivory