Hungarian parliamentary election, 1949
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The Hungarian parliamentary election, 1949 was held on 15 May of that year. The Hungarian Independent People's Front, an umbrella group created that February to replace the National Independence Front and led by the Hungarian Workers' Party (which was formed in June 1948 through a merger of the Hungarian Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party), but also including the remaining four non-communist parties, ran a single list of candidates drafted by the Communists and espousing a common programme.[1] With all organised political opposition entirely destroyed,[2] and the Communists dropping all pretenses to democratic electoral mechanisms,[3] the Front won 95.6% of the vote,[3] presaging the result of elections through 1990. 71 (17.7%) elected deputies were female, up from 22 (5.4%) elected in 1947.[4]
The election came in a year of the Communists' tying up loose ends in their bid for total power: 1948 had been the turning point. On 1 January 1949, Hungary was a founding member of Comecon. On 6 February, Cardinal József Mindszenty, leader of Hungarian Catholics and a prime opponent of Communism, was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Independence Front was formed in February and by the time of its March congress, it had become clear that it was to act as a vehicle for destroying rather than bringing together the main parties; many non-communist right-wingers had already been forced to resign in the summer of 1948. Three months after the election, a new constitution proclaiming Hungary a People's Republic and enshrining the principle of one-party rule was adopted.[5] Schools were nationalised, collectivisation was launched, the bureaucracy was purged, the independent press was destroyed, and the last remnants of free enterprise were eliminated.[6] Also, László Rajk, General Secretary of the Independence Front and Foreign Minister, who the day after the election was the main speaker at a mass demonstration where he condemned Titoist "running dogs of imperialism", praised the "brilliant strategy" of the "great leader of the peace camp", Stalin, and the "wise leadership" of Stalin's best Hungarian pupil, Comrade Rákosi, was himself arrested two weeks later and executed in October following a show trial.[7]
A nominally coalition government was formed, with the Independent Smallholders Party receiving the Ministries of Trade and Religion and Education, and the National Peasants Party receiving Agriculture and Construction. After the election, the Front's local committees dissolved themselves, and with them the National Peasant and Independent Smallholder local organs, although no law or ordinance was ever passed abolishing them.[5]
[edit] Results
| Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hungarian Independent People's Front | 5,478,515 | 95.60 | 402 | 100 | ||
| Against | 165,283 | 2.88 | ||||
| Invalid | 86,721 | 1.52 | ||||
| Total votes cast | 5,730,519 | 100 | ||||
| Total seats | 402 | 100 | ||||
| Source: "Communists Hold Power", The New York Times, 19 May 1949, p.3 |
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Wittenberg, Jason. Crucibles of Political Loyalty, p.88. Cambridge University Press (2006), ISBN 0521849128
- ^ Ekert, Grzegorz. The State Against Society, p.43. Princeton University Press (1996), ISBN 0691011133
- ^ a b Soberg Shugart, Matthew and Wattenberg, Martin P. Mixed-member Electoral Systems: The Best of Both Worlds? Oxford University Press (2001), ISBN 019925768X
- ^ Tremblay, Manon and Galligan, Yvonne. Sharing Power: Women, Parliament, Democracy, p.26. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. (2005), ISBN 0754640892
- ^ a b Swain, Nigel. Hungary: The Rise and Fall of Feasible Socialism, p.42. Verso (1992), ISBN 0860915697
- ^ Rakowska-Harmstone, Teresa. Communism in Eastern Europe, p.90. Indiana University Press (1984), ISBN 0253313910
- ^ Lendvai, Paul. Blacklisted: A Journalist's Life in Central Europe, p.68. I.B.Tauris (1998), ISBN 1860642683
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