Referendum result deals Govt slap in the face

Press, 2 December 1987, Page 10

Referendum result deals Govt slap in the face

By

DAVID LEWIS

of Reuters (through NZPA) in Vienna

Poles voting in a nationwide referendum have given their Government a slap in the face unique for the authorities of a Communist State in Europe.

But, as the Warsaw Government conceded defeat in a poll on political and economic reforms, a country-by-country survey by Reuters showed that some other East Bloc nations were moving towards greater democracy. Until a 1986 referendum in Rumania — which recorded a 99.99 per cent turnout and 100 per cent Government support — no Warsaw Pact country had held a national plebiscite. Parliamentary elections in the bloc are rarely anything but a rubber stamp for policies imposed from the top rather than emerging from any grassroots consensus. Moves towards greater democracy are evident, however, and unqualified support for party and

Government is becoming a thing of the past in some parts of the bloc. Hungary’s Parliament has begun showing its teeth since compulsory multi-candidate elections two years ago allowed independent members into the chamber. Bulgaria announced reform steps in the same direction only last week. The Reuters survey illustrates public opinion and turnout of citizens as recorded by the Soviet Union and its allies: • Soviet Union — Turnout for local elections in June was put at 93.37 per cent, slightly lower than previously, although Azerbaijan recorded a figure of 99.99 per cent. Turnout for 1984 elections to the Supreme Soviet was

also estimated at 99.99 per cent. No national referendum has been held. • Rumania — President Nicolae Ceausescu broke with Communist tradition in November, 1986, by holding a national referendum on his suggestion to cut military spending 5 per cent. The result was never in doubt. • Czechoslovakia — At General Elections in May last year, Czechoslovakia reported 99.39 per cent of the electorate as going to the polls, with 99.94 per cent of them voting for candidates backed by the Communist-controlled National Front. • Bulgaria — The official news agency BTA said on November 23 that Bulgaria planned to give

voters complete freedom of choice in electing candidates for local council and mayoral posts. But no real challenge to the Communist Party was envisaged. • Hungary — An electoral law passed in 1983 prepared the way for an election two years later in which about 10 per cent of Parliament’s 352 contestable seats were won by “spontaneous candidates” not put forward by the authorities. Parliament voted against the Government last year by forcing an amendment to a finance bill and authorities have lost local referendums. • Albania — The official news agency ATA reported a 100 per cent turnout for elections on

February 2 in independent Stalinist Albania. One ballot paper was invalid, but the remaining 1,830,652 votes were cast in favour of the single candidates in each of the country’s constituencies. True public opinion in Eastern Europe is difficult to gauge. But a secret survey done last year by Independent sociologists in Czechoslovakia suggested that the Communist Party there would win only 14 per cent of a national vote. The Hungarian writer, Gyoergy Konrad, told an unofficial East-West conference in Budapest nine days ago that Hungarians, given the chance, would vote to leave the Warsaw Pact and join the European Community.