GERMANS GO TO POLLS

Chronicle (Levin), 16 August 1949, Page 5

GERMANS GO TO POLLS

(N.Z.P.A.-

-Reuter.

Dip To Right Gives Social Lemocrats Success

Covyright)

Received Tuesday, 10.35 a.m\ BERLlN, August, 15. The new P'ederai Republic of Western Germany will st'art liie next month with uhe politicai rsiiL. nrm y neid by the anti-socialist, ciiuion-sifpported Chrisuian Democrats. 'Ine politicai scales dipped sharply to oue Right in the weekend eiection, giving the Cnristian Democrats 1*1 scats m the new Bundstag (Lower House), but not an absolute majority. Two main factors were responsible* for this swing to the Right — nrstly, refugees from the East, who iormerly favoured the Socialists, turned their backs on all established parties and voted largely for mdependent candidates and the special interest groups; secondly, the Christian Democratic Union; while ho.ding its own, in the predominantly Catholic areas, lost, large numbers of Protestant votes" to such extreme Right groups as the German Party and the German Right Party in the British Zoner and the National Democrats. An analysis of the votes shows. that the gains of the Right Wing parties arld the Bavarian Party roughly correspond to the losses of the Christian Democratic Union and the gains of the refugee groups mc.uding the Economic Reconsiruction Party, roughly correspond . to the losses of the Left. In the record poll of 23,490,0Q0 votes, representing 68.5 per cent. of the West German electorate, the voice of economic discontent has thus been proved to be sectional rather than general. Voting Figures. Voting figures give the following seats in the Assembly of 402 members: — Christian Democrats 141 Social Democrats 131 Free Democrats 52 German Party 17 Communists 15 Bavarian Party 15 Centre Party 10 Economic Reconstruetion Party .. 10 German Right Party 7 Independents 3 . South Schleswig Federation .... 1 j Correspondents sav the voters gave I a surprising response to a dull cam1 paign. Twenty-four million Germans | went to tlie polls and clearly rejected communism. The Coinmunists had a 10 per cent. popular vote in the 194(5 State election, reduced to about (5 per cent. With only scattered returns to come in, the fmal unofticial reaults were: — Christian Democrats (i, .874,600, Social Demorcats (5,(598,225, Free Democrats 2,717,75(5, Communists 1,327,145, Independents 1,112,387, German Party , 940,088, other parties 2,(580,21 3. The Christian Democrats carried seven of the eleven West German ' State s. • j Correspondents sav that although the Communist leader, AI"a.\ Reiniann; was defeated, he can still be given a seat in the Parliament under the proportional representation svstem. . The leader of the Free Democratic Party, Dr. Theodore Heuss, who had been stronglv tipped for the poSt of President of the new Republic, was defeated at Stuttgart by a Social Democratic opponent.