FOREIGN RELATIONS, 19 4 6, VOLUME VI



the Roumanian Government gave certain assurances to Lord Inver-
chapel, then Sir Archibald Clark-Kerr, and accepted the obligation
to hold free and unfettered elections. It was on the basis of these
assurances that His Majestv's Government in the United Kingdom
and the United States Government agreed to recognise the present
Roumanian Government.
  (2) "There is thus an obligation on the Roumanian Government to
ensure that the Roumanian people shall be given an early opportunity
freely to choose the Government under which they wish to live, and
His Majesty's Government consider that they have both the right and
the duty to bring the following to the attention of the Roumanian
Government.
  (3) "His Majesty's Government note that the Roumanian Govern-
ment have promulgated a law for the compiling of electoral rolls and
the subsequent conduct of elections. It is the view of His Majesty's
Government that certain features of this law are not entirely consonant
with democratic practice. In particular they have noted the follow-
ing points:
       (a) The electoral law provides for representatives of all parties
    to be present at the counting of votes in the voting sections. The
    determination of the final voting in the constituencies and
    throughout the country, however, is the responsibility of the
    electoral bureaux and of the Central Electoral Commission, which
    are exclusively composed of representatives of the present Rou-
    manian Government.
       (b) Although candidates may eventually obtain certified copies
    of the results of each voting section, there is no provision for the
    immediate official publication of these results.
       (c) Appeal against irregularities of the counting of votes must
    be made to the electoral bureaux or the Central Commission, both
    of which are under direct Government influence.
    (4) "Moreover, His Majesty's Government have been concerned to
learn from H.M. representatives in Budapest [Bucharest] that certain
grave irregularities have occurred in connexion with the preparations
for the elections. His Majesty's Government had occasion to draw the
attention of the Roumanian Government to certain of these facts in
their notes of the 27th May and of the 14th June, to which they have
received no satisfactory reply. The Roumanian Government must be
aware that the essential element in the holding of free elections is that
all democratic parties should have equal freedom and equal facilities
to engage in political activity in the period preceding the elections.
This condition is at present clearly disregarded. It appears that the
opposition parties in Roumania are subjected to acts of intimidation.
Their meetings are frequently broken up by armed adherents of other
parties, and some weeks ago one member of the Executive of the Na-
tional Peasant Party was assassinated and two more have been as-
saulted and severely beaten while endeavouring to conduct their elec-
toral campaign. These and other acts of violence have, it would seem,
taken place with the connivance of the police and local authorities,
and with the approval of the Government. In the presentation of
their views the Opposition parties have also been hampered by the



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