OCR
XeAeNoe9. for December 19529 5. POLAND AFTER ITS ELECTIONS. The elections e On July 224, Poland's Sejm (Parliament) had accepted the new, Russian=-styled, Yonstituion. the next move was the establishment of a new electoral law snd the political campaign in preparation of the “ctober 26th electionse Under the leadership of the United Polish Workers Party, all political parties and groups agreed in August to join in a common National Front and to establish a single list of candidates to be presented to the voters for approvale ith all politic forces thus integrated, one possible nucleus of resistance still remained: the Church. After weeks of uncertainety, the hierarchy came forth with a prudent statement by the end of September. It emphasized that political abser téism was not a Christian attitude. Catholics had a duty to participate in the public life of their country; they hadg to fulfill their patriotic duties; but at the same time had the responsibility of watching that the religious freedom - guaranteed by the ChurchState agreement of April 14, 1950 and by the Constitution - was not limited and dimindshed in practical lifesee. «ith this sa&atement, the fundamental rights of the Church were not given up, thile the faithful were left free to judge by themselves what attitude to take in the forth-coming electionSe After the huge preparatory campaign, the outcome of the elections were no surprise; 95% of the electorate participated; 99% voted for the official list of candidates established by the National Front in each constituency. in Warshaw and the larger industrial cities even 99.99 and 99.8% of the votes casted were for the tational Fronte Such "unanimity" was higher than is usually the case in satelliteg countries; it was a copy of the Svviet Russian example. Among those elected figured not only the communist Party nembers headed by President Bierut, Marshal Rokossowski and Politburo chiéfs Like Jacob Berman - but also memberd coming from the ranks of the socialists and the reasant rarty, but who are rdady to cooperate with the present moscow-led regimee a em am Poland's position in the soviet world. Some commentators have tried to explain why such unusually spectacular campaign had ppececded the rolish elections and why the results had to be of such a striking "unanimity". Certain Western circles have concluded — with wishful thinking - that this was the sign of open resistance in roland. Because opposition were so strong, it was argued, the rolish government had to make a special effort to convince the masses,amm had to spare the susceptibilities of groups not gained to the Sovict Line, and had to show an overwhelming victory. Our observers of the rolish situation explain this situation from a different angle. They bring a number of concrete facts, proving a