decolonisation struggle. List of deputies elected to the French Parliament The French Second Republic: Barthélémy Durand Valantin 1848–1850 (Mixed race) Vacant 1850–1852 Abolished 1852–1871 The French Third Republic: Jean-Baptiste Lafon de Fongauffier 1871–1876 (Mixed race) Abolished 1876–1879 Alfred Gasconi 1879–1889 (Mixed race) Aristide Vallon 1889–1893 Jules Couchard 1893–1898 Hector D'Agoult 1898–1902 François Carpot 1902–1914 (Mixed race) Blaise Diagne 1914–1934 (African) Galandou Diouf 1934–1940 (African) 1945–1959: Amadou Lamine Guèye 1945–1951 (African) Léopold Sedar Senghor 1945–1959 (African) Abbas Guèye 1951–1955 (African) Mamadou Dia 1956–1959 (African) Following the 1945 elections to the Constituent Assembly in France, which were held with a very limited franchise, the French authorities gradually extended the franchise until—in November 1955—the principle of universal suffrage was passed into law and implemented the following year. The first electoral contests held under universal suffrage were the municipal elections of November 1956. The first national contest was the 31 March 1957 election of the Territorial Assembly. Independence In January 1959, Senegal and the French Sudan merged to form the Mali Federation, which became fully independent on 20 June 1960. The transfer of power agreement with France was signed on 4 April 1960. Due to internal political difficulties, the Federation broke up on 20 August 1960. Senegal and Soudan (renamed the Republic of Mali) proclaimed independence. Léopold Senghor, internationally known poet, politician, and statesman, was elected Senegal's first president in August 1960. The 1960s and early 1970s saw the continued and persistent violating of Senegal's borders by the Portuguese military from Portuguese Guinea. In response, Senegal petitioned the United Nations Security Council in 1963, 1965, 1969 (in response to shelling by Portuguese artillery), 1971 and finally in 1972. After the breakup of the Mali Federation, President Senghor and Prime Minister Mamadou Dia governed together under a parliamentary system. In December 1962, their political rivalry led to an attempted coup by Prime Minister Dia. The coup was put down without bloodshed and Dia was arrested and imprisoned. Senegal adopted a new constitution that consolidated the President's power. Senghor was considerably more tolerant of opposition than most African leaders became in the 1960s. Nonetheless, political activity was somewhat restricted for a time. Senghor's party, the Senegalese Progressive Union (now the Socialist Party of Senegal), was the only legally permitted party from 1965 until 1975. In the latter year, Senghor allowed the formation of two opposition parties that began operation in 1976—a Marxist party (the African Independence