To the beating of drum and gong, 86.4% of the eligible voters in South Viet Nam last week went to the polls to elect the country's first National Assembly. Result: a landslide victory for President Ngo Dinh Diem's National Revolutionary Movement. Despite highhanded campaign regulations that hobbled any organized opposition to Diem, the election was no mere formality. There were many independent candidates in the running. Voters indicated Diem's basic popularity by voting heavily for openly pro-government candidates of whatever party, including Diem's brother and sister-in-law and four of his Cabinet ministers.
But the most telling sign of Diem's increasing...
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