When the ballot box becomes a battle to protect sovereignty

Geopolitical context and legal challenges of early democracy

In the history of the world's founding, there have been few election events taking place right in the middle of a fierce battlefield like the first General Election of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in early spring spring spring spring. If the North faces political pressure from the Tuong Gioi Thach army and the opposing party, the South must face off with guns and bullets of the French occupation army. January 6, 1946 in the South became a vivid testament to the desire for independence, where voters' votes were also soaked in the blood and bones of the people and security forces.

Immediately after the success of the August Revolution, the Provisional Government identified the General Election as an urgent task to legalize the State government before the international community and the people in the country. Decree No. 14 dated September 8, 1945 and Decree No. 51 dated October 17, 1945 created a basic legal corridor for the general election process at the beginning of the vote. However, the actual situation in the South is more complicated than the usual forecast of the democratic process. The French army launched a gunfight to occupy Saigon from September 23, 1945 and expanded its occupation to many southern and south central provinces. Therefore, the vote in this area has a special nature: both exercising civil rights and conducting resistance to protect sovereignty.

Election preparations in the South took place under great military pressure from French colonialism. Colonel Cedile, a member of the French Republic in the South, and his military apparatus have taken all measures from the psychology of war to the use of force to sabotage the election, considering this an act of challenging the power of the "fatherland". French aircraft continuously slandered and distributed leaflets threatening to kill anyone who voted for Viet Minh. In that situation, the Southern Administrative Committee was forced to flexibly change the organization method from public to secret or public sale. The list of candidates cannot be widely posted in the enemy's occupied area but must be propagandized by staff or given away at night. Unlike the summer festival atmosphere in the North, the election in the South has the color of a special military campaign, where ballot boxes become targets that need protection like warehouses and ammunition.

In Saigon - Cho Lon, the brain- center of the French war effort, the vote took place in the form of a creative and brave Youth Union. The organizing force did not set up a fixed voting booth but used a mobile ballot box. Officers brought ballot boxes to each household, squeezing through the dense guard system of detectives and letacles. Saigon voters exercise their civil rights in a spirit of willingness to sacrifice. Many traders, boatmen, and intellectuals have quietly voted and quickly evacuated or returned to their daily lives to cover the eyes of the enemy. In Tan Binh area, the self-defense force organized many interceptions on the streets to distract and create local safety space for the voting team to move.

The fierceness of the election is clearly demonstrated through the number of casualties of the organizing forces and voters. Historical documents of the Southern Party Committee recorded 42 officers and soldiers who died on January 6, 1946 in the Saigon - Cho Lon area while on duty to protect the ballot box. The image of a soldier falling but still holding a ballot box tightly to protect the election results became a tragic symbol of the history of the founding of Vietnam. Their blood has poured not on the military front but on the political front, affirming the iron determination of the people of the South in building a Republican institution.

Not only in large cities, the situation in localities such as Ben Tre and Khanh Hoa is also extremely tense. In Nha Trang, where the French army is tightly surrounding, voters and armed forces have turned the election into a large-scale cross-line victory. Thousands of people from the temporarily occupied areas have secretly crossed rivers and edges of forests to get to the free voting area. At the battlefield, soldiers take turns leaving the combat positions for a moment to perform their civic duties, then immediately return to hold guns. The ballot placed next to the rifle becomes a highly symbolic image, erasing the line between political rights and national obligations.

Political victory and the establishment of national identity

The election results in the South have caused great surprise to international observers and colonial governments. Despite bombs and bullets and restraint, the turnout of voters in most provinces and cities is high, in some places up to over 90%. This reflects the complete failure of the " Regulation" strategy applied by the French colonialists. Southern voters have chosen delegates who are outstanding human beings, intellectuals, have great prestige and a strong patriotism. The list of elected members includes big names such as: Ton Duc Thang, Pham Ngoc Thach, Huynh Tan Phat... The elected members show a solid national unity bloc, gathering from workers, farmers to intellectuals, national property, together with the common goal of fighting for independence.

The successful organization of the General Election in the South has strategic significance far beyond the framework of internal affairs activities. The event broke the propaganda of the French colonialists about the lack of support of the people of the South for Viet Minh. The voting results are the most authentic evidence of the will to unify the country, rejecting all plots to separate the South from Vietnam. The election provided a solid legal basis for the resistance war. The Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam is no longer a self-adeared Provisional Government but a Charter Government, elected by the entire people, with full legal status to represent the country in the international arena.

Looking back at the history of January 6, 4, it can be affirmed that Southern voters wrote a history of donation with blood and courage. Our people have turned ballots into weapons, successfully turned ballot boxes, affirming the sacred right of self-determination of the nation. The General Election in the South not only completed the State apparatus but also trained the political will of the people, preparing a strong mindset for the 9-year resistance war. This event leaves a profound lesson in the strength of the people's hearts, proving that when the will for independence has penetrated deeply into the subconscious, no force of power can be subdued.

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