AUSTRIAN PARTIES

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 September 1945, Page 2

AUSTRIAN PARTIES

ALLIES’ CONCESSIONS

LONDON, September 12. A communique issued after a meeting of the Allied Control Council for Austria last night contained the text of a proclamation addressed to the Austrian people. The communique says: The Allied Council has decided to allow three democratic parties, namely, the Socialists, the Communists, and the People’s Party, to pursue the activities in Austria which they, in fact, have been doing for months past. The communique announces the establishment of an executive committee consisting of four deputy commissioners, and also an interAllied kommandature for the city of Vienna. It also announces that freedom of movement in Austria for all representatives of Austrian firms, business enterprises, and organisations would be permitted soon, and that the food ration would be increased on September 23. A proclamation announces the assumption of power, as from September 11, by the Allied Council in-re-spect of matters affecting Austria as a whole. Elections will be held “as soon as the necessary conditions exist.” The proclamation says the Council’s policy concerning Austria's future would be based on the Moscow declaration, in which the Governments of the United Nations declared their intention to sec a restored, free, independent, and democratic Austria. Democratic parties would be given freedom to express political views through the medium of the Press, radio, and meetings as an essential step towards the holding of free elections.