Local elections were won largely by members of the Chadian Democratic Union (Union Démocratique Tchadienne or UDT), founded in 1946, which was associated with a political party in France, the Gaullist Rally of the French People. The UDT represented French commercial interests and a bloc of traditional leaders composed primarily of Muslim and Ouaddaïan nobility. Chad's European community initiated the practice of using the civil service for partisan political ends; African civil servants who were identified with organizations opposed to the UDT soon found themselves dismissed or transferred to distant posts.