IMPENDING LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS IN HUNGARY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91T01172R000300040004-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 17, 2012
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: November 8, 1954
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/17: CIA-RDP91T01172R000300040004-2
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OCI NO. 0335 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AldtNCY
Copy No. OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
8 November 1954
TO Deputy Director (Intelligence)
SUBJECT: Impending Local Government Elections in Hungary
1. Date: 28 November 1954
2. Offices to be Filled: Local councils (local government
bodies) on coun y ttown, annd village levels.
3. Party Participation: The only legal political party
in Hungary is the ungar an Worlers' (Communist) Party. Candi-
dates will be both communist. and non-party and run under the
banner of the regime controlled supermass organization known
as the Patriotic Peoples' Front (PPF).
4. Significant Features:
a. The list system of candidates has been discarded
in favor of a single native candidate per voting district. The
regime has made much of this "democratic" advance over the last
election because it allegedly makes the candidate directly re-
sponsible to his district and thus permits his recall should
he prove unsatisfactory. This refinement is rather hollow
since the voter still has no choice of candidates and the
amount of independent action likely from his representative is
extremely small.
b. A key role in the election machinery is allotted
to the recently launched Patriotic Peoples' Front, which
appoints the personnel for the local election machinery and
approves single candidates after they have been chosed by
their respective voting district committees. The PPF has prob-
ably been given the job to bolster the illusion that it has
a real and important role in Hungarian affairs.
c. During the pre-election period, the regime has
been harassed by Radio Free Europe's balloon drop, known as
"Operation Focus." The balloons were launched from West
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/17: CIA-RDP91T01172R000300040004-2
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/17: CIA-RDP91T01172R000300040004-2
Germany in early October and contained leaflets putting forth
the "suppressed demands" of the Hungarian People. "Focus"
quickly brought forth an angry note from the Hungarian govern-
ment which complained that United States support or tolerance
of such an action was incompatible with easing international
tension.
Orig: General Division
HUNTINGTON D. SHELDON
Assistant Director
Current Intelligence
7 DA- --
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/07/17: CIA-RDP91T01172R000300040004-2