Czechoslovak parliamentary election, 1948

Parliamentary elections were held in Czechoslovakia on 30 May 1948.^[1] They were the first elections held under undisguised Communist rule; the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia had seized complete power three months earlier.

The Communists had become deeply unpopular, and all indications were that they would be voted out of office in the elections due in May. The endgame began on 13 February, when a majority of the cabinet demanded that Communist Interior Minister Vaclav Nosek stop packing the police with Communists. Nosek refused, and was supported by Prime Minister and Communist Party leader Klement Gottwald. On 21 February, 12 non-Communist ministers resigned, believing that President Edvard Beneš would side with them and force Gottwald to either back down, resign, or call early elections that the Communists would not have time to rig. Beneš initially supported their position, and refused to accept their resignations. By this time, however, Gottwald had dropped all pretense of democracy. He not only refused to resign, but demanded the appointment of a Communist-dominated government under threat of a general strike. His Communist colleagues occupied the offices of the non-Communist ministers.^[2]

Fearing Red Army intervention, Beneš gave way on 25 February and appointed a new government in accordance with Gottwald's demands. Communists and pro-Moscow Social Democrats held most of the key posts. Members of the other parties still figured, so it was still technically a coalition. However, all except Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk were fellow travellers handpicked by the Communists. On 9 May, a new constitution was approved by the now-subservient National Assembly. While it was not a completely Communist document, its Communist imprint was strong enough that Beneš refused to sign it.

The reconfigured government scheduled elections that would set the tone for all elections until the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Voters were presented with a single list from the National Front, a postwar coalition that had been converted into a Communist-dominated patriotic organisation. Voters could only reject the list by requesting a blank ballot.^[3] The Front officially won 89.2 percent of the vote. Within the Front, the Communists and their Slovak branch won a large majority, with a total of 214 seats (160 for the main party and 54 for the Slovak branch). That majority grew even larger when the Social Democrats merged with the Communists later that year. Beneš resigned three days after the elections, and Gottwald took over most presidential duties until his formal election as president 12 days later.

The 89.2 percent won by the Front would be the lowest vote share that it would claim during the 41 years of out-and-out Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. In subsequent elections, the Front would claim to win elections with 97 percent or more of the vote.

Results

Seat distribution

References

Elections in Czechoslovakia Parliamentary elections 1920 1925 1929 1935 1946 1948 1954 1960 1964 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990 1992 Parliamentary by-elections 1924 Regional elections 1923 1928 1935 Local elections 1919 1923 1927 1931 1938 1954 1960 1964 1971 1976 1981 1986 1990 Referendums 1951 See also: Elections in the Czech Republic Elections in Slovakia