1948 Czechslovak General Election

The 1948 Czechoslovak General Election was held on 1 April 1948 to elect 650 members of the Congress of Czech and Slovaks, the unicameral post-provisional body, and has resulted in the center-right KDU-DSC being the most voted list and subsequently gained a majority in parliament, while the center-left ČSSD-CSNS came second and Rudolf Beran assumed the nominal role of Leader of the Opposition, modeled on the British system. Gombos Gyula, federal president of the Christian Democratic Union, inspired on the biggest German conservative party, was appointed Prime Minister by re-elected President Edward Benes.

Background
In the 1946 Czechoslovak parliamentary election, the anti-communist National List managed to obtain a majority in the provisional assembly which was tasked to craft a new constitution, effectively sidelining communists. However, a joint government with the CPK was made to facilitate the transition. The communists demanded Klement Gottwald to be appointed Premier, however Benes nominated the leader of the list Zenkl, who gave the CPK key ministerial posts; the government however terminated in early 1948 due to the attempt made by communists to seize power, which failed thanks to the intervention of the Armed Forces, and the CPK was banned indefinitely and Gottwald imprisoned for high treason, and there he died in 1953.

In the meanwhile, the political landscape was rapidly mutating. The Social Democratic ČSSD created a mutual parliamentary pact with the CSNS in an effort of representing the main opposition force. The center-left list also banned the members of the CPK from joining, recognizing themselves in traditional social democrats with the rejection of Marxism and totalitarianism. The Czech People's Party, instead, merged with smaller forces, creating the Czech Christian Democratic Union, electing a junior lawmaker, Gombos Gyula, as President. Gyula immediately started negotiations with the Democratic Party in Slovakia, with the intent of creating a federation, where the DSC would present candidates only in Slovakia, while the KDU in Bohemia. As the DP accepted, Gyula became the Federal President of the party that ultimately won the elections.