1894 Bulgarian parliamentary election

1894 Bulgarian parliamentary election

←  1893 (Jul) 11 September 1894 1896  →

All 155 seats in the National Assembly 78 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader Seats Unionists Ivan Geshov 40 Tsankovist Liberals Dragan Tsankov 40 Radoslavist Liberals Vasil Radoslavov 37 Conservatives Konstantin Stoilov 26 Karavelist Liberals Petko Karavelov 8 Socialists Yanko Sakazov 4 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Konstantin Stoilov Stoilov II (Cons.+NP+LP(R)) Konstantin Stoilov Stoilov III (Cons.+NP)

Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 11 September 1894 to elect members of the VIII Ordinary National Assembly. The result was a victory for the government-aligned anti-Stambolovist parties.

Background

Stefan Stambolov and his People's Liberal Party had been in power since 1887 until Prince Ferdinand surprisingly accepted one of his numerous resignations in May 1894 and appointed a government of the United Legal Opposition, led by Konstantin Stoilov, in the hopes that a shift away from the pro-Austrian People's Liberals would achieve him recognition from Russia as the Prince of Bulgaria. Despite limited democratization reforms and amnesty, popular opposition leader Petko Karavelov remained imprisoned until after the election and Stambolovist candidates were not allowed to run. ^{[1] [2]}

Results

Party		Seats
	Unionists	40
	Tsankovist Liberals	40
	Radoslavist Liberals	37
	Conservatives	26
	Karavelist Liberals	8
	Socialists	4
Total		155
Source: Liberty [3] Socialist [4] [a]

Aftermath

The Radoslavist Liberals left the government in December 1894. Stoilov's term saw the resolution of the country's 10-year long international isolation and Ferdinand was recognized as Prince of Bulgaria. Stoilov's supporters, the Unionists and Conservatives, consolidated into the NP and this period saw the formation or reinvigoration of the country's other major pre-WW1 political parties - the DP, LP and PLP, in addition to Stambolov's NLP, which he led until his assassination in July 1895. ^[2]

Notes

1. Slightly different seat count with 90 "Russophiles" (Unionists, Tsankovists and Karavelists), 38 Radoslavists, 25 Conservatives and 2 Socialists

References

1. Kumanov, Milen. Political organizations and movements in Bulgaria and their leaders 1879-1949, Sofia 1991.
2. Tsurakov, Angel. Encyclopedia of Governments, National Assemblies, and Assassinations in Bulgaria. Sofia, Trud Publishing House, 2008. ISBN 954-528-790-X, p. 52-66.
3. Liberty newspaper, issue 1478, 13 Sept 1894
4. Socialist newspaper, issue 1, 4 Oct 1894