At the time of the 1960 local elections, PAI was accused by the government of fomenting unrest following a series of incidents in Saint-Louis.
In 1963 at the 23rd plenary session of the Central Committee of PAI a group of party cadres, including Babacar Niang and Tidiane Baïdy Ly, were expelled from the party, accused of "anti-party fractional activity, right-wing opportunist tendencies" (Momsarew, April 1964).
Whereas many young cadres of the clandestine PAI went to study at the Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, one section were sent to Cuba to receive training in guerrilla warfare.
A group of 25 PAI guerillas entered eastern Senegal in 1965 trying to launch armed struggle against the government.
In 1965 PAI split, when Landing Savané left to form the pro-Chinese Senegalese Communist Party.
It worked in the Syndicat des Enseignants du Sénégal and the Association of Senegalese Workers in France (ATSF).
This would later evolve into the General Union of Senegalese Students, Pupils and Probationary Teachers in Europe in 1975.
This student movement would however rapidly split away from the party, and form the more radical Democratic League.