1881 Bulgarian Constitutional Assembly election

1881 Bulgarian Constitutional Assembly election

←  1880 14 June 1881 1882  →

All 328 seats in the Grand National Assembly 168 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader Seats +/– Conservative Party Konstantin Stoilov 326 +276 Liberal Party Dragan Tsankov Petko Karavelov Petko Slaveykov 2 −101 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Johan Ehrnrooth Ehrnrooth (Ind. + Con.) Johan Ehrnrooth Ehrnrooth (Ind. + Con.)

Parliamentary elections were held Bulgaria on 14 June 1881 to elect the 381 members of the II Grand National Assembly, ^[1] which convened in Svishtov in order to consider the amendments to the constitution proposed by prince Alexander I of Battenberg. The proposed amendments were similar to the Conservative's proposals during the first constitutional assembly elections in 1879. ^[2] The proposed amendments included restricting civil liberties, reducing the size of the National Assembly, making the franchise indirect and introducing a State Council. These amendments would effectively suspend the constitution and make Bulgaria an authoritarian dictatorship. ^[2]

Campaign

At first the Liberal Party was not perturbed by the proposed amendments as they believed the Bulgarian people were opposed to them and stood behind the Liberal Party. Believing this would be reflected in the election results, the Liberal Party was confident it would dominate the new Assembly. This confidence evaporated when Russia decided to back the prince during the election. Russian soldiers were available at the polls to "help illiterates" and to "preserve order", though they placed little restraint on pro-Battenburgist thugs who congregated around polling stations. ^[2]

Results

Having "practiced all the latest modes of bulldozing known to the enlightened citizens", the pro-Battenberg conservatives were able to secure the majority they wanted. ^[3] Only two electoral districts returned liberal deputies and not all of them reached the Assembly. ^[2]

Aftermath

On 1 July the Grand National Assem bly convened in Svishtov. ^[4] The overwhelming conservative majority supported the constitutional amendments, taking less than two hours to pass all of them. Prince Alexander had in effect carried out a coup d'état. ^[2] Following the coup, many infuriated Liberals left Bulgaria. However, Battenberg's regime was weak from the start as the real power was held by the two Russian generals dispatched from Saint-Petersburg, Leonid Sobolev and Alexander Kaulbars. The regime eventually collapsed and the constitution was restored on 6 September 1883. ^[5]

References

1. Bulgarian Voice newspaper , vol. 51 - 18 June 1881, vol. 53 - 25 June 1881
2. Crampton, R.J. (2005). A Concise History of Bulgaria. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 90–91. ISBN   9780521616379.
3. "The Bulgarian elections". Sacramento Daily Union. July 1, 1881. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
4. "Хронология на Народното събрание". National Assembly. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
5. "Brief history". National Assembly. Retrieved 3 April 2014.