1955 South Vietnamese election
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The 1955 South Vietnamese election was a referendum held to determine the future leadership of the nation that was to become South Vietnam. It was contested by Ngo Dinh Diem and Bao Dai, the then Emperor of Vietnam. Ngo Dinh Diem won the election with 98.2% of the vote, which was widely marred by electoral fraud. Diem was credited with over 133% of the number of registered voters in the capital Saigon.[1][2]
[edit] Background
Following the defeat of the French Army at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, French colonisation of Vietnam ended. As a result of the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was to be temporarily split at the 17th parallel, and elections were to be held in 1956 to unify the country under a common government. After a period of three months during which free passage between both sides was allowed, the border was closed on October 11, 1955. It was estimated that 850,000 people migrated to the south, mostly Catholics. This came after a campaign by the Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem and his US and CIA adviser Edward Lansdale using the slogan "God has gone south" to attract Catholics to strengthen his power base. At the start of 1955, French Indochina was dissolved, leaving Diem in temporary control of the south.[3]
[edit] Referendum
A referendum was scheduled for October 23, 1955 to determine the future direction of the south. It was contested by Bao Dai, the Emperor who had spent the majority of his ceremonial reign during the colonial period in France, advocating the restoration of the monarchy. Diem ran on a republican platform. Lansdale had cautioned Diem against electoral fraud, believing that Diem would win a free election, stating "While I'm away I don't want to suddenly read that you have won by 99.99%. I would know that it's rigged then." American officials suggested that a fair election would have seen Diem poll around 60-70% of the vote.[1]
The elections were held, with Diem's brother and confidant Ngo Dinh Nhu, the leader of the family's Can Lao Party, which supplied Diem's electoral base, organising and supervising the elections. Lansdale also advised Diem to print his ballots in red, while those of Bao Dai were printed in green. In Vietnam, red is associated with good luck and prosperity. Green, on the other hand, is often associated with a cuckold as well as bad luck.[1][4]
Campaigning for Bao Dai was prohibited, and Diem's advertising consisted of large pageant-style floats of Bao Dai, depicted with bags of money on his shoulders, a deck of cards in his hands and with naked women, which were paraded around Saigon. This was a reference to the Emperor's reputation of opulence, gambling and womanising.[5]
During the election, Nhu's staff told voters to throw away the green ballots. Those who disobeyed were often chased down and beaten. Pepper sauce and water were sometimes forced into the nostrils of dissenters. When the final results were announced, Diem recorded 98.2% of the vote, including 605,025 votes in Saigon, where only 450 thousand voters were registered. Diem's tally also exceeded the registration numbers in other districts.[1][5] Three days after the vote, Diem proclaimed the creation of the Republic of Vietnam, with himself as its President.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Karnow, Stanley (1997). Vietnam:A history. Penguin Books, 239. ISBN 0-670-84218-4.
- ^ Tucker, Spencer C. (2000). Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. ABC-CLIO, 366. ISBN 1-57607-040-0.
- ^ Maclear, Michael (1981). Vietnam:The ten thousand day was. Methuen, 65-68. ISBN 0-423-00580-4.
- ^ a b Langguth, A. J. (2000). Our Vietnam. Simon and Schuster, 99. ISBN 0-684-81202-9.
- ^ a b Jacobs, Seth (2006). Cold War Mandarin : Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950-1963. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 95. ISBN 0742544478.
