RUSSIANS IGNORING W. BERLIN POLL: DECISIVE REJECTION OF REDS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22813, 7 December 1948, Page 5

RUSSIANS IGNORING W. BERLIN POLL: DECISIVE REJECTION OF REDS

(N.Z.P.A.—Reuter —Copyright.)

(11a.m.) BERLIN, Dec. 6. , The Soviet authorities will ignore the results in the Berlin municipal election, which they regard as illegal. Their policy in the city will in no way be affected.

Dr. Otto Suhr, chairman of the present Western Assembly, said that seats would be allotted in the new body to 79 Social Democrats, 24 Christian Democrats, and 16 Liberal Democrats 1

Eleven members of the Socialist Unity Party would still be entitled to sit.

The German news service Dena reported that the official results of all districts were: Socialist Democrats .. 848,006 Christian Democrats .. 258,496 Liberal Democrats .. .. 214,224 Of the electorate, 82.6 per cent voted. Western observers, commenting on the results, said that if all those who voted for the Socialist Unity Party in 1946 had abstained this time as they had been told, the total participation in the pool would have been less than 80 per cent. It thus appeared that nearly half the former supporters of the Socialist Unity Party ignored the Communist boycott appeals and voted for the Western parties.

was that the Germans in the eastern sector had been denied the simple right of recording their opinion. The acting Mayor of Berlin. Dr. Feidinand Friedensburg, whom the Western Allies supported, commented: “The Communist Party has practically ceased to exist in Berlin." The leader of the Social Democrat Party, Herr Ernst Reuter, said: “The voting surpasses our expectations. My party will work with firmness to make Berlin a free city.” The Russian-controlled Berlin radio described the elections as “fraudulent” and declared they had taken place "under terror.” The German news agency controlled by the Russians stated that the ballot was not secret and remarkably high voting percentages indicated that Berliners had voted several times. Berliners Not Intimidated The Western Allied authorities and the German democratic political leaders had considered before the Western Berlin municipal elections that a vote of 80 per cent would constitute an eloquent protest against Communist efforts to dominate the city, says the Times’ correspondent in Berlin. The latest estimate shows that Berliners were not in-

Russian Soldier’s Intrusion

The British military police today held a Russian soldier who forced his way with a fixed bayonet into a polling booth and demanded the voting lists on the night of December 5. A Russian captain and five men, all armed, came from the Soviet zone today to demand the release of the soldier. Later two Russians with tommyguns arrived. Both parties left after being threatened with arrest.

timidated by Communist threats, Russian propaganda and bad weather. The Communists had earlier put about a story that Western Berliners were to be deserted both by their political leaders and the Western Powers. Planes were said to be standing by to take German politicians to Western Germany while the Anglo-American leaders were alleged to have confessed that the airlift was about to break down. The election results showed how little the rumours were believed.

This evening the British spokesman said the Russian soldier had been handed over to a Russian escort. In the British, United States ana French sectors polling generally was quiet but disturbances led to 33 arrests. The majority of arrests were of persons trying to persuade voters not to entdr booths. Colonel Frhnk Howley, U.S. Commander of Berlin, described the high polling as proof to the world that Berliners were worthy of the chance that the Western Allies gave them to decide their fate by democratic processes. It was a great vote of confidence in the legal Cit.y Government. The British commandant of Berlin, Major-General Herbert, said that the Berliners at the polls had undoubtedly rejected communism. The only regret