Democratic Party of Guinea (redirected from Democratic Party of Guinea-African Democratic Rally)

Democratic Party of Guinea 

(DPG), a national democratic party, uniting industrial workers, peasants, office workers, and members of the intelligentsia of the country. It was founded in May 1947 as a local section of the African Democratic Rally. In the early 1950’s the.DPG became the main political force of Guinea, uniting the broad strata of the population on the basis of the struggle against imperialism. Responding to the summons of the DPG, the majority of Guinea’s population voted against the draft for a new French constitution in 1958, which envisioned the preservation in the framework of the so-called French Community of the predominance of France in its former colonies. In November 1958 a conference of the DPG decided to withdraw from the African Democratic Rally because the latter’s leadership supported the retention of the former colonies of France as part of the French Community.

The basic principles of the domestic and foreign policy of the DPG were set out in the charter of the party (the first one was adopted in 1947, the last one in 1967) and the resolutions of congresses and conferences. After Guinea won independence (October 1958), the DPG became the sole and ruling party in the Republic of Guinea. It implemented a number of democratic reforms, set forth the tasks of liquidating the legacy of colonialism and overcoming economic backwardness, and endorsed a noncapitalist path of development. The foreign policy of the DPG is founded on the principle of positive neutrality and nonalignment. The eighth (1967) and ninth (1972) congresses of the party confirmed the basic directions of Guinea’s domestic and foreign policy.

Between congresses the party and the state are governed by the National Council of the Revolution. The congress elects the Central Committee and the National Political Bureau. The general secretary of the DPG is Sékou Touré. The central organ of the DPG is the newspaper Horoya (in the Susu language, Dignity), published in French since April 1961; the newspaper La Liberté was published from 1951 to 1961.