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BERLIN TURNS
TO WEST
Surprise Election
Results
Australian Associated Press
BERLIN, October 21.
Despite a huge propaganda
campaign to boost the Russian
backed Socialist Unity Parry
it was beaten yesterday by
ihoth the Sor-ial Democrats and
rhe Christian Democrats in the first
free municipal elections held in j
Berlin since. 1932. |
| The city appeared quiet and
I orderly all day. despite a poster war
{between the Socialist Unity Party
? and the Social Democrats.
j It is officially stated that 85.9
I p.c. or the electorate voted. With
! only 109 districts out of 2.284 still |
jto be tabulated, the following i
figures are expected to need only
minor adjustmentsr-^Social De
mocrats. 948.743 <48.7 p.c of the
'votes counted); "Christian Demo
! crats. 431.916; Socialist Unity.
383.182; Liberal Democrats. 182.097.1
j The ??Daily Telegraph'" cor
i respondent describes the Social
Democrats as moderate Socialists.
the Christian' Democrats as a
! middle-class party, the Liberal
| Democrats as supporting private
enterprise and advocating demo
cratic reforms, and the Socialist
I Unity Party as a merger of the
I Communist Party and left-wing
elements of the Social Democrats
"Outspoken Verdict*
German commentators describe
the results as representing an out
spoken German endorsement of the
political and economic policies of
! the western Powers against those.
1 of the Soviet Union, says British
: United Press.
The leader of the Social Demo
cratic Party (Dr. Schumacher) de- j
clared that the results showed how!
Germany would appear without
zonal frontiers.
Dr. Arthur Werner, Russian-ap
pointed mayor of Berlin, said thatj
the vote was the funeral of thei
present City Council, 70 p.c. of
whom were members of the Social-!
ist Unity Party. In future inde-1
pendent Socialists would dominate
city borough councils.
High German election officials
denied a report that Nazis bad re
appeared at the elections. They
. estimated that no more than 20 oi
1.400.000 votes so far counted had
been marked w'Ui swastikas
: Provincial Surprise ]
Reuter says that there was an- i
other surprise in the Russian zone
provincial elections, where so far
: there is a composite majority
against the Socialist Unity Party
in elections for five provincial legis
latures, the latest results being:—
Socialist Unity Party, 830.000:
Liberal Democrats, 564.000: Chris
tian Democrats. 374.000.
$