Poland’s Government party won only one-third of the seats in Sunday’s nationwide municipal elections, so official quarters intimated tonight the central administration would soon step in and claim the prerogative to replace many of the new incumbents.
“Demagoguery” produced the municipal results, Government spokesmen charged. They pointed to November’s national elections, in which the Camp of National Union, the Government party won 80 percent of the seats in the Sejm (diet). The opposition parties, which boycotted the parliamentary contest, hailed Sunday’s outcome as a great victory for democracy.
Official quarters declared the Interior Ministry has the power to modify the composition of the municipal councils and will not hesitate to do so if any of the councillors “fail to show themselves equal to the dignity of their tasks.”
Of the 1,150 municipal officers elected, only 383 were Government men. The National Democratic (Endek) Party of the right opposition seated more than 400 candidates; the Polish Socialists, 175; the Jewish Socialists and Zionists between them, 58; the Labor Party, 53; and the German minority, 16.
Neutral observers viewed the results as a resounding defeat for the Government drive to turn Poland into a one-party country.
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