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1948 Algerian Assembly election

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Elections for a new Assembly were held in Algeria in April 1948. The new 120-seat Assembly was to be elected by two colleges, each of which would vote for 60 seats; one college was composed of around 1,500,000 Europeans and "meritorious" Muslims, and the second of around 8,000,000 Muslims. However, following the victory of the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD) in the previous year's local elections, the Assembly elections were manipulated by the authorities to ensure a favourable result, to the extent that the phrase "élection algérienne" became synonymous with rigged elections.[1] As a result, the MTLD won only nine seats and the nationalist Democratic Union of the Algerian Manifesto eight, whilst 55 went to independents (known as Béni-oui-oui for being easily malleable).[2]

References

  1. ^ Algeria: Polarization and Politicization Country-Data.com
  2. ^ Richard A. Lawless, Algeria. History, in: The Middle East and North Africa, Volume 50, Routledge, 2003, ISBN 9781857431841 p.159