 The AKFM continued to experience intraparty rifts between leftist and ultranationalist, more orthodox Marxist factions; it was unable to capitalize on increasingly active but relatively less privileged Malagasy youth because the party's base was the Merina middle class.A new force on the political scene provided the first serious challenge to the Tsiranana government in April 1971.The National Movement for the Independence of Madagascar ("Mouvement National pour l'Indépendance de Madagascar" – Monima) led a peasant uprising in Toliara Province.