- Rhodesian general election, 1974
The Rhodesia general election of
July 30 ,1974 saw theRhodesian Front ofIan Smith re-elected, once more winning every one of the 50 seats elected by white voters.Background
Since the previous election in 1970, the main African nationalist groups had changed their strategy and gone into exile in
Zambia (and to a lesser extentMozambique andBotswana ), launching a war to overthrow white minority rule by force. The main African groups, theZimbabwe African National Union (ZANU),Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and theFront for the Liberation of Zimbabwe (FROLIZI), formed the African National Council under BishopAbel Muzorewa to act as a collective political leadership and undertake any negotiations with the Rhodesian government.In June 1974, the African National Council rejected settlement proposals which had come out of discussions between itself and the Rhodesian government. As the Rhodesian Parliament was into its fifth year, a general election became a real prospect. Timothy Gibbs of the Rhodesia Party announced on
June 9 ,1974 that he expected a September election, and onJune 19 , Prime Minister Ian Smith announced that there would be an election imminently (he did not name the date). He also announced round table talks with Africans, including the Council of Chiefs. These talks were rejected by the African National Council as a waste of time.Campaign
The
Rhodesia Party , a white opposition party, had been formed by ex-Rhodesian Front MPAllan Savory in 1972. They were a moderate group which advocated more moves towards including the African population in internal politics. Early in June 1974, Savory made a speech at Hartley in which he was reported as saying that if he had been a black Rhodesian, he would be a terrorist. The uproar was such that Savory was forced from the leadership (replaced by Gibbs) and resigned from the party onJune 16 . Despite the turmoil, the Rhodesia Party managed to nominate candidates in 40 out of the 50 seats.There were also several Independent candidates including six right-wingers sponsored by the Rhodesian Group. The multi-racial Centre Party, which had provided the main opposition at the previous election, nominated a single candidate (who was from an Indian background). When nominations closed on
July 7 , two seats (including that of Ian Smith) were elected unopposed. A victory by the Rhodesian Front was almost inevitable, although six seats were regarded as marginal.The most marginal seat was clearly Salisbury City, where a right-wing Rhodesian Front candidate Ted Sutton-Pryce faced Dr
Ahrn Palley , an Independent ex-member of the House of Assembly who had been a lone white opponent of UDI. In the 1970 election, the Rhodesian Front had defeated a mixed-race Independent candidate by only 40 votes, with a Centre Party candidate taking 157. Allan Savory, despite his departure from the Rhodesia Party, fought in Highlands North in the Salisbury suburbs as an Independent.The Rhodesian Front responded to the challenge from the Rhodesia Party by attacking it for holding secret negotiations with the African National Council behind the backs of the Rhodesia government with the intent of undermining them. Ian Smith identified the Rhodesia Party with the 'liberal establishment' of Rhodesia, which had been responsible for the 1962 constitution and the inadequate arrangements of the
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953.Electoral system
The electorate of
Rhodesia returned 66 members of the House of Assembly, in three different classes of seat:* European roll seats: 50 members were returned from single-member constituencies by voters of European descent.
* African roll seats: 8 members were returned from single-member constituencies by voters of African descent.
* Tribal seats: 8 seats were returned by Tribal electoral colleges made up of the Chiefs of the Tribes.No change to boundaries or the qualification of voters was made compared to the 1970 election.
Results
Together with the other seats, the state of the parties in the House of Assembly was:
tate of the parties
African seats
Tribal seats
* HIGHVELD: Bartholomew Augustine Mabika
* KARIBA: Peter Mhletshwa Nkomo
* LOWVELD: Alford Dzingirai Chademana
* MANICA: †Naboth Absolom Gandazara
* PAGATI: Fani Mlingo
* PIONEER: †Josia Bvajurayi Hove
* TULU: Zephaniah Bafana Dube
* ZAMBEZI: †Takawira Aaron MungateChanges during the Assembly
Pioneer
Josia Hove died on
June 14 ,1976 . At the byelection onAugust 5 ,1976 , Adam Hove was elected to replace him; Benjamin Panga Mbuisa and Twyman Mafohla Sibanda were unsuccessful candidates.Party changes
The Land Tenure Amendment Bill of 1977 was highly controversial among Rhodesian Front MPs who objected to the opening of some areas previously designated for Europeans to African ownership. In a vote on
March 4 ,1977 , twelve Rhodesian Front MPs voted against the Bill on a three line whip. They were Reginald Cowper, Dennis Fawcett Phillips, Richard Hope Hall, Robert McGee, John Newington, Peter Nilson, Gordon Olds, Ian Sandeman, Rodney Simmonds and Ted Sutton-Pryce. In July 1977 these MPs formed the right-wing Rhodesian Action Party; this action precipitated the 1977 election as it deprived the government of the needed two-thirds majority to amend the constitution.
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