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Ninth-of-May Constitution

The Ninth-of-May (1948) Constitution was a constitution in (see) Czechoslovakia in force from 1948 to 1960. It came into force on June 9, shortly after the communist seizure of power in the country. It replaced the 1920 Constitution. President Eduard Benes refused to sign it an resigned. The constitution was often broken by the KSC:

It established the vanguard role of the KSC within the Czechoslovak state and government administration under the Leninist principle of democratic centralism. The government sector was declared the basis of the economy, but it protected the private sector and cooperatives too. It also granted a small degree of autonomy to Slovakia, which was given its own legislative body and governmental structure, although these were made subordinate to the central authorities in Prague. The parliament was called National Assembly.