1962 Oranais legislative election (African Israel)

The 1962 Oranais legislative election was held on June 10 and 17 in order to elect the first National Assembly of the soon-to-be-independent Orania, which would be officially established on July 1. The elections were held during a difficult period as the would-be country was in the midst of a refugee crisis as Europeans and pro-French Muslims relocated to Orania while pro-independence Muslims went the other way to Algeria. This population exchange aroused Algerian nationalist sentiments, leading to several terrorist attacks in the months leading up to the election.

The election resulted in a landslide victory for the pan-ethnic National Union, which advocated for strong ties with Orania's former colonizers. Other parties included the Alliance of Muslims, the far-right Republican Action and the Oranais Communist Party.

Background
French rule over Algeria, which began in 1830, finally ended with the Évian Accords on March 18, 1962. However, the period of French colonial rule also led to the development of an ethnically European community in Algeria. By the 1950s, the Pieds-Noirs (Algerians of European descent) numbered 1.1 million and had a strong presence in coastal cities of Algiers and Oran. When the French agreed to leave Algeria the colony was partitioned and these Pieds-Noirs and pro-French Muslim Algerians were granted their own state on the western edge of the former colony. Additionally, the new countries of Algeria and Orania would share their access to the Sahara's large amount of natural resources.

The Partition of Algeria led to one of the largest migrations since the end of the Second World War as nearly 800 thousand Pieds-Noirs, tens of thousands of Jews and 150 thousand pro-French Muslims fled to Orania while 200 thousand pro-independence Muslims fled the other way to Algeria in the spring and summer of 1962. This led to a large refugee crisis as housing and agricultural land was often forcibly taken from native refugees to accommodate the refugees. The Partition coupled with the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Algerians led to the resurgence of terrorism in the soon-to-be-country, which in turn led to "punitive actions" by the Pied-Noir militias against the civilian population.

This election was also dominated by questions over future ties with France, as the National Union and Republican Action argued for maintaining strong military, economic, and political ties with France while the Communists wanted to normalize relations with Algeria as they had opposed the Partition since its proposal in 1961.

Political parties
The political landscape was divided between several new parties that had been rapidly created throughout April and March 1962. Four well-organized political parties emerged.


 * National Union: this party is the ideological heir of the French Algerian Front, a big tent party with varying internal currents. The party aimed for retaining strong ties with France in economic and military matters, although it argued that, as a new sovereign country, Orania ought to legitimize itself on the world stage by establishing diplomatic relations with other Western countries. The party generally supported the idea of a "fraternal" country, where national identity would not be based on ethnicity and where pro-French Muslims would be fully integrated into society and politics.


 * Alliance of Muslims: the Alliance was established as a party that represented the interests of native Algerians of the future country, aimed at defending their rights and property against the arbitrary confiscations of the preceding months.


 * Republican Action: heir to the illegal far-right Organisation armée secrète, the Republican Action represents all of Orania's far-right, including ex-collaborationists, royalists, disillusioned resistants, Jews and antisemites. The members of the party had different visions of the Oranais state, with some supporting apartheid while others argued for co-habitation with Muslim Algerians.


 * Oranais Communist Party: the only left-wing political force in Orania, the Communist Party was composed of former members of the French and Algerian communist parties. Opposed to the Partition of Algeria, the PCO called for Algerian self-determination and the co-habitation of French and Algerians in a single state. It also opposed the population exchange and expropriation of native property. The Party was accused of collaborating with the FLN and other Algerian independentist movements.