STEPS TO PREVENT DISORDERS

Chronicle (Levin), 1 April 1946, Page 5

STEPS TO PREVENT DISORDERS

. press Assn.

GREEK ELECTI0N CAMPAIGN ENDS IN BL00DSHED Lefl Wing Boycoti Assures fioyernment of Walbver

By Telegraph

-Copyright

Receiyed. Sunday, 11.30 p.m. ' | Lj LONDON, March 31. ~ " Oue hundred thou&a»d Oreek troops anu Z0,uu0 rur.a! geji>darpaes are standjng' by thrpRg'hojit Or.eep,e tp onsjir^ order £pr today"s elections. All British trpops h^Vte Iie.eji pjsier^d to rejnahi in their quarters, but ija certain areas "ftag niarcbes ' ' way be • made to 4ls,courag.e wpu'ld-be troub'lemakers. Noisy .deiitonistratiohs by parfi.es boypottin^ the eleptions marked the closing stages of the campaigh in Athefts. Five pofice offieers and five piviiians ^ere injured when the polic.e .dispersed demoiistrat.ors around the Athens Labbur Exchange. Ail Oreek armed forces and polic.e gendarm&ries are iindej the orders pf speeiaily-appointed miiitary advisers nntit a waek after the elections.

Fifteen civiiians and four policemen wer,e injured in a 15-minute ,clash be i tween police and demonstrators .urgim, j a boycott of the election. The elash 0- [ curred in Omonia SiCLuare, which was tm. scene of bitter fighting during -the ci.vi | war in Becember, 1944. The polie, | stated that they -were attacked wit,. clubs and stones. The crowd dispersi^. when the police fired into the air. The Forpier Foreign Minister, Mr. Sofianopoulis, wlro eariier addressed ui cr.owd in Omonia .Square, told 20,00 densely-packed supporfers th,at th election had b.een forced on Greece b: ivir. Bevin. The crowd roared, "T'hBritish troops must go!" Mr. Sohanopoulis denounced Britisi intervention in Greek affairs and de . clared: "We faced Germany and ltal\ and will p.ut out ,our .chests and defexii the sovereignty of our country. We ari not afraid of Mr. Bevin's guns." Greek troops w.ere ordered -to stahhy in Athens oa 1'nda-y f.ollowing ta-. first shooting incident of the electio. cainpaign. a moh oi youths, said to o Communists, stoned the Royalist popt. lar Party Headquarters. Two werwounded by pistol snots, says the nau. Mail's Atffens correspondent. Men wiich ladders, brus.hes and pots o. glue billed Athens yesterday wit"Don't v.ote!" posters, whjle the roau ways were filled with fiuttering pain phlets urging abstention from voting aittle notices sasdng, "Made in Epg land" were glued across the f.oreheau„ of photographs of Royalist candidates. Anti-Britj.sh feeling is now bitterly strong in Left Wing circles. Tlisre aru bands and loudspeakers in the stre'ets and here and there arguments at street corners and in cafes deveioped into in- ' cidents. The correspondent adcle.d that, .be cause the Left -Wing won't vote, ,thelection will he a walkoyer, rather than a contest. There is no element of doubahout the result. The Socialist editor of the E.A.M newspaper Free Greece a.sserted tha. tlie British election observers at'cached to the four key Ministries had moro

power than fhe Mipisters. He accusea vJ&e observers at the Pinance jyfipistr.v of keeping down the workers' salarfes, and .a.c,c.qsed other British officiale- of re fusing permission to import iorries, be cause this wouJd dajnage railwa-y interests. Shouting "democrats ah.st.aih!" a large crowd demonstrated in fropt ' oi the Hotel Gregt Britain, the residenct of the Ah.ie.d mission pf election ob S.eryer$. The crowd sang resistancsongs and cheered the E-A.M. A lou.lspeaker addressed the crowds, urgin^ them to abstain from voting. The chiefs of the Allied mission observers received a defegation of mne members of the E.A-M., who pofnted o.ut tnat tne holdin.g of the elections with out the use of certain inx which i'aiieu to re.ach the country for stainprag cfielection pap.ers, would contribufe tp improper voting procedure. The dele gation added tnat the special ink wcux-a guarantee against multiple voting. The Prefect of Missolonghi sent a message to ,the Minister of the interioiasking f.or t.he help of Britisn forces to maintaip order fn that region, saying the situation there was tense and the ipcal gendarmerie appeared unwiiliflg to .cooperate with -the authorfties. It was clear that, whatever happenea in Greece, the -Communists inteutie.a to boycott an.d upset the elections, safu Mr. Bevin in a speech at xjristoi. ureece •w-as in a v.ery difficult positfon, lying, i as it .di,d, between two great Allies with| diff'erent viewpoints. As a result she ' v/as subjected to external propaganda. 1 Mr. Bevin related how he cofisult.ed Oabinet, when he asked for advice w.he ther the elections should he postponea. He reveafed that C.ahiinet .unanimously agreed that they must be hefd a.s pLiu ned; otherwise the whole situ.at.ion m Greece wp.uld deferiorate. Mr, Bevin believe.d that the .E.A.M, would have won | many seats if it had participated. #±ow- j ever, if the party felt that it could ob- j taip. a majority, there was no jusfifieation for preventing other citi.zens from i exercising their franchise. ' • a- !