Federal Republic of Cameroon
On 11 November 1961, Ahmadou Ahidjo invited the other parties in the Assembly to join the UC to found a single Cameroonian party in order to develop the Cameroonian society and economy: "I say straight away that it is desirable that in Cameroon there should be a large unified party. In any case, I personally wish it after an agreement between the different parties that exist. A great unified national party into which Cameroonians would freely enter, after being convinced. A party in which there is democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of discussion; a party in which there can be several tendencies, with the understanding that the minority supports the opinions of the majority. The Union of the Peoples of Cameroon led by Theodore Mayi Matip, the Cameroon Socialist Party led by Charles Okala and the Cameroon Democrats Party led by André-Marie Mbida refused to accept the President's authoritarian drift3.