1899 Bulgarian parliamentary election

1899 Bulgarian parliamentary election

←  1896 25 April 1899 1901  →

All 169 seats in the National Assembly 85 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader Seats United Liberal Party Vasil Radoslavov Dimitar Petkov 119 Other Liberals – 15 Democrats Petko Karavelov 10 Tsankovist Liberals Stoyan Danev 10 Socialists Dimitar Blagoev Yanko Sakazov 4 People's Party Konstantin Stoilov 2 Russophiles – 2 Unionists Konstantin Velichkov 1 Conservatives – 1 Independents – 5 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Dimitar Grekov Grekov (Ind. + Radoslavists) Dimitar Grekov Grekov (Ind. + Radoslavists)

Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 25 April 1899 ^[1] to elect members of the X Ordinary National Assembly. The result was a victory for the ruling United Liberals, which won 119 of the 169 seats. Voter turnout was 49%. ^[2]

Background

Independent former Stambolovist party leader Dimitar Grekov had been appointed Prime Minister in January, however he remained close to his former party. Following negotiations he formed a government with the Radoslavist liberals, with Radoslavov as Interior minister, and the two parties merged in March. ^[3]

Results

The initial results were approximately: 90 United Liberals, 20 Democrats, 30 Tsankovists, Populists and Unionists, 5 Socialists and 5 others. ^[4] Several MPs were elected in more than one constituency and were required to choose which one to represent when the Assembly convened, resulting in 17 of the 169 seats being vacant. A further 21 seats were annulled and two MPs died. Snap elections were held on 19 September and 5 December 1899. ^[5]

Party		Seats
	United Liberal Party [a]	119
	Other Liberals [b]	15
	Democrats	10
	Tsankovists [c]	10
	Workers' Social Democratic Party	4
	People's Party	2
	Russophiles [d]	2
	Unionists	1
	Conservatives	1
	Independents	5
Total		169
Source: National Statistical Institute [5]

Aftermath

Grekov's government continued its term, however there was a power struggle between the Radoslavists and Stambolovists within the newly united Liberal Party. After by-elections were held, the Radoslavists had a majority on their own and Grekov was forced to resign. He refounded the People's Liberal Party, which he led until his death in 1901. Radoslavist Todor Ivanchov succeeded him as PM in October 1899.

In order to adress the ongoing economic crisis, the Grekov and Ivanchov governments privatized the railroad stations in Southern Bulgaria, decreased pensions and salaries and the reintroduced the tithe, with the latter resulting in mass peasant unrest and the founding of BZNS as a political party. The police forces under Radoslavov's Interior ministry brutally suppressed the riots. The assassination of Ștefan Mihăileanu by the VMOK resulted in a diplomatic crisis with Romania. In November 1900 Ivanchov resigned after a crisis in the ruling party. He remained as the leader of an interim government, however he resigned again after a conflict with interior minister Racho Petrov, who succeeded him as interim PM. Ivanchov, Radoslavov and Dimitar Tonchev  ( bg ) were later arrested for corruption and constitutional violations during their terms as ministers, by the First State Court  ( bg ) in 1903. ^{[6] [7]}

Notes

1. 89 Radoslavists Liberals, 19 Stambolovist Liberals, 11 from the ruling, governing or united Liberal party
2. 11 Undetermined Liberals, 3 Old Liberals, 1 Liberal-Constitutionalist
3. 8 Tsankovists, 2 Tsankovists-Unionists
4. The prominent Russophile parties were the Tsankovists, the Unionists and the Democrats

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p368 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p377
3. Georgiev, Biser. On the matter of the "unification" and "division" of the Liberals and the People's Liberals in 1899, "History" vol 4, 2023.
4. "Information notice", Pryaporets newspaper , 29 April 1899
5. Statistique des elections des deputes pour la XI-eme Assemblee nationale ordinaire. NSI. 1900. p. 147.
6. Tsurakov, Angel. Encyclopedia of Governments, National Assemblies, and Assassinations in Bulgaria. Sofia, Trud Publishing House, 2008. ISBN 954-528-790-X, p. 67-73.
7. Kumanov, Milen. Political organizations and movements in Bulgaria and their leaders 1879-1949, Sofia 1991.