Manchurian premierial election, 1990

The Manchurian premierial election, 1990 was held on the 27th January 1990. It was the second premierial election to be held and the first to allow  candidates. Previously Manchuria had been a  with power monopolised in the hands of the Communist Party of Manchuria. In the summer of 1989 in response to protests were held around Manchuria against communist rule setting off the Orchid Revolution. The unrest culminated with the leader of Manchuria Huang Jiongming being ousted by  Yuan Xiang who called for elections in January.

The main opposition candidate was Du Changhao, the former party secretary for (Manchuria's largest city) and leader of the dissident group the Manchu Revolutionary National Congress which he had joined following the start of the revolution. The MRNC agreed to form a coalition with CPM members who had split to form the National Liberal Party known as the Popular Front for Democracy and Revolution with Du Changhao as their candidate. The CPM meanwhile were facing an internal collapse as the party factions fought amongst themselves - some hoped to reform the communist system whilst other sought to preserve it. The incumbent Yuan Xiang was recognised as the only man with the complete confidence of the politburo and as such was nominated by the CPM.

The rushed nature of the election meant that very few candidates gained enough signatures to register as candidates, with the CPM and the MRNC mobilising their membership bases to enter the race. As such whilst there were third party independent candidates did run the election was essentially a two horse race between the CPM and the MRNC.

The election was marred by violence at poll stations as protests had not yet subsided. When the poll numbers were announced it was clear that Du had gained a decisive victory. Co-current Manchurian legislative election, 1990 saw the CPM swept out of power after 44 years of single-party rule leading to the dissolution of the Manchu People's Republic and the adoption of Manchuria's current constitution. It is commonly regarded as the first genuinely democratic election in Manchuria.