| Albania |
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Parliamentary elections were held in Albania on 2 December 1945.[1] The Democratic Front was the only organisation allowed to nominate candidates, and won all 82 seats.[2] Voter turnout was reported to be 89.9%.[3]
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As the Albanian partisan resistance of 1940-1944 came to a close, a provisional Democratic Government of Albania was established on October 20, 1944 by a second meeting of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council. Its interim Prime Minister was Secretary-General Enver Hoxha of the Communist Party of Albania. The Communists replaced the National Liberation Front with the reorganized Democratic Front in August 1945 with Hoxha as its Chairman.
During the elections no other political organization was allowed to nominate candidates besides the Communist-dominated Democratic Front. A member of the Front, Gjergj Kokoshi, was one of the few who protested this, and a rebuttal was offered by another Front member named Siri Shapllo who stated that, "The fact that no other group has been able to organize itself after ten months of liberation, means that the creation of such groups has not been in the interests of the people. The people are with the Front. If there are some who want to organize themselves outside the Front, let them try, but they will run up against the strength of the Front and will lose. There is nothing we can do about this."[4]
Despite widespread intimidation and coercion, eighteen candidates did stand as independents in districts where the Front had a minor presence.[5] Two candidates stood in direct opposition to the Front—though one withdrew a day before the election was held.[6] As the overwhelming majority of the population was illiterate, there were no voting papers. Voting was conducted through a small rubber ball stamped with a black eagle; the voter dropped it into a red box for the Front, and a black box for a non-Front candidate. The voter had to put his or her hands into both boxes, in effect instituting the equivalent of a secret ballot.
| Party | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Front | 505,304 | 93.7 | 82 |
| Non-Front | 37,906 | 6.3 | – |
| Invalid/blank votes | 0 | – | – |
| Total | 542,400 | 100 | 82 |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver | |||
On 11 January 1946, the People's Republic of Albania was proclaimed following the formation of a Constituent Assembly. Hoxha remained as Prime Minister of Albania until 1954, when the post was transferred to Mehmet Shehu.
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