1884 Bulgarian parliamentary election

1884 Bulgarian parliamentary election

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All 171 seats in the National Assembly 86 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader Seats Hardline Liberals Petko Karavelov Petko Slaveykov 100 Conservatives & Moderate Liberals Konstantin Stoilov Dragan Tsankov 71 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Dragan Tsankov Tsankov III (Moderate Liberals + Russophile Conservatives) Petko Karavelov Karavelov II (Hardline Liberals)

Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 27 May 1884. ^[1] The result was a victory for the hardline liberals, which won 100 of the 171 seats. Voter turnout was 28.9%. ^[2] Further members were elected from Eastern Rumelia between 11 and 18 May 1886, ^[2] after it became part of Bulgaria in 1885.

Results

Several MPs were elected in more than one constituency and were required to choose which one to represent when the Assembly convened, by-elections were held on the 3rd of June. ^[3] When the Assembly convened, the ruling moderate Liberals and Conservatives supported hardline Liberal Stefan Stambolov for Chairman, while the hardliners supported Petko Karavelov. The latter became speaker with 99 to 66 votes, 5 MPs were absent. 130-140 MPs signed a Liberal Party declaration against the conservative constitutional amendments. Over 130 MPs were from the Liberal party, with 90-100 hardliners, 30-40 moderates and 10-15 conservatives. There was an attempt to form a government with both liberal factions ^[4]

Party		Seats
	Liberal Party	100
	Conservatives and Moderate Liberals	71
Total		171
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

The moderate liberals and Russophile conservatives officially split into the Tsankovist Party following the election. Karavelov's second government oversaw Bulgaria's unification and the subsequent Serbo-Bulgarian War. The Stambolovist Liberals split from the ruling hardline Liberals in 1886. The government was overthrown in the 1886 coup, however only the Tsankovists joined that government and it was replaced 3 days later following a counter-coup. Karavelov formed another government with the pro-Austrian conservatives but resigned soon afterwards and was replaced by Vasil Radoslavov. New elections were called for a Grand National Assembly to elect a new monarch due to the abdication of Prince Alexander in the aftermath of the coup. ^[5]

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p368 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p369
3. Otechestvo newspaper , 2 June 1884
4. "Bulgarian chronicle", Tarnovska Konstitutsiya newspaper , 30 June 1884
5. "Политически партии, организации и движения в България и техните лидери" (in Bulgarian).