The Socialist Unity Front was officially established in November 1968 as a replacement for the People's Democratic Front, which had existed since the Communists began to organize effectively in the country during World War II. The Socialist Unity Front lists among its member organizations, in addition to the PCR, the labor unions; cooperative farm organizations; consumer cooperatives; professional, scientific, and cultural associations; student, youth, women's, and veterans' organizations; religious bodies; and representatives of the Hungarian, German, Serbian, and Ukrainian minorities. At the time of its formation, Ceausescu was elected as the front's chairman, and Ion Gheorghe Maurer, the prime minister, was named as first vice chairman. Both continued in these positions in early 1972. General elections were conducted by the Socialist Unity Front in March 1969. Official results indicated that ballots were cast by 99.96 percent of the country's 13,582,249 eligible voters. Of the votes cast, a reported 99.75 percent were marked in favor of the single list of Socialist Unity Front candidates. Although the great majority of the candidates for the Grand National Assembly who were placed on the ballot belonged to the PCR, some non-members gained front approval and were elected. Nearly half of the candidates elected were newcomers to the assembly and included forty-one Hungarian, twelve German, and nine other minority representatives. The front has scheduled the next general elections for 1973. CHAPTER 9 POLITICAL DYNAMICS AND VALUES At the beginning of 1972 the country's political system continued to be based on the leading position of the Romanian Communist Party (Partidul Communist Roman--PCR). Within the party, political power was centralized in a small group of men who occupied the leading party and government offices. Political authority was particularly concentrated in the hands of the general secretary of the PCR, Nicolae Ceausescu, who was also the head of state. Regarding itself as the leading force of the society, the PCR has made the government apparatus an instrument of party policy and, through a broad network of subordinate mass organizations, has mobilized all elements of the society in support of its programs and goals. Individual and group participation in the political process was limited to the forms and means permitted by the PCR.