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All 404 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate 203 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 10 September (for the Congress of Deputies) and on Sunday, 24 September 1905 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 12th Restoration Cortes. All 404 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.
The informal turno system had allowed the country's two main parties—the Conservatives and the Liberals—to alternate in power by determining in advance the outcome of elections through electoral fraud, often facilitated by the territorial clientelistic networks of local bosses (the caciques ). The absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths of Cánovas and Sagasta, together with the national trauma from the Spanish–American War, weakened the internal unity of both parties and allowed faction leaders and local caciques to strengthen their positions as power brokers. Sagasta's death plunged the Liberal Party into turmoil, with an inconclusive leadership contest between Eugenio Montero Ríos and Segismundo Moret seeing the former temporarily splitting (together with supporters of José Canalejas and José López Domínguez) into the Liberal Democratic Party.
Francisco Silvela's second tenure as prime minister of Spain was short-lived, as he resigned in July 1903 over disagreements between the Crown and Antonio Maura over the latter's management of election preparations as Governance minister—which had led to a strong performance by anti-monarchist forces in urban districts in the 1903 election—and amid a growing rivalry with Finance minister Raimundo Fernández-Villaverde, a defender of orthodox economics who opposed Maura's deficit spending. A five-month long cabinet under Villaverde fell after most of the Conservatives coalesced around Maura as new party leader, but a government attempt by the latter collapsed in December 1904, following King Alfonso XIII's interference in the appointment of a new Chief of the Central Staff of the Army. The inability of any other Conservative leader to command the party's majority in parliament thwarted two government attempts by Marcelo Azcárraga and Villaverde (who had split into his own political faction), leading to a new Liberal "turn" under Montero Ríos.
Following the Bourbon Restoration in 1874, the Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a semi-constitutional monarchy , awarding the monarch —under the royal prerogative —the right of legislative initiative together with the bicameral Cortes ; the capacity to veto laws passed by the legislative body; the power to appoint government members (including the prime minister ); the ability to grant or deny parliamentary dissolution , the adjournment of legislative sessions and the signature of royal decrees ; as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the armed forces . [1] [2] The monarch would play a key role in the turno system by appointing and dismissing governments, which would then organize elections to provide themselves with a parliamentary majority. This informal system allowed the two major " dynastic " political parties at the time, the Conservatives and the Liberals —characterized as oligarchic , elite parties with loose structures dominated by internal factions, each led by powerful individuals—to alternate in power by means of electoral fraud ( pucherazo ). This was achieved by assigning candidates to districts before the elections were held ( encasillado ), then arrange their victory through the links between the Ministry of Governance and the territorial clientelistic networks of provincial governors and local bosses (the caciques ), excluding minor parties from the power sharing. [3] [4]
The Restoration system had entered a phase of decline following the national trauma from the Spanish–American War (the "1898 disaster") and the absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (1897) and Práxedes Mateo Sagasta (1903), weakening the internal unity of both dynastic parties and strengthening the position of faction leaders and local caciques as power brokers. [5] [6] Concurrently, the anti-monarchist opposition became increasingly competitive in urban and some rural districts, partly due to the introduction of universal suffrage since 1890, partly due to the progressive weakening of the pro-government electoral apparatus. [7] [8] [9]
Francisco Silvela's return to power in December 1902 had seen the incorporation of the remaining Gamacists under Antonio Maura—a strong adherent to Silvela's regenerationist view of a revolution from power"—into the Conservative fold, with Maura himself being appointed as new governance minister. [10] [11] The rivalry within Silvela's cabinet between Maura (whose position was more flexible in favour of corporatism and social reforms, even through deficit spending) and Raimundo Fernández-Villaverde (proponent of a rigid orthodox economic policy based on fiscal discipline and the gold standard) led to the latter's resignation as finance minister in March 1903. [12] [13]
Villaverde and Maura's financial clashes over a cabinet-sponsored Navy Law, coupled with disagreements between the Crown and Maura over election preparation procedures—as a result of the strong performance of anti-monarchist candidates in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia in the 1903 general election [14] —led to Silvela's resignation on 20 July 1903, [10] [11] [15] with young King Alfonso XIII appointing Villaverde as new prime minister. [12] [16] This situation would last for only five months, as most of the Conservatives coalesced around Maura (singled out by Silvela as his successor) after a vigorous parliamentary speech in defense of Conservative ideals on 11 November, [14] [17] prompting the downfall of Villaverde's government when it proved unable to get its 1904 budget bill through parliament in December. [12] [18]
A new government under Antonio Maura saw attempts to implement a regenerationist agenda, but his policy of increasing public spending caused a rift with the Villaverdists within the Conservative Party. [19] [20] During this period, the government had to deal with the "Nozaleda affair": its attempt to propose Bernardino Nozaleda—former archbishop of Manila, questioned for his role during the loss of the Philippines—as archbishop of Valencia, earning Maura criticism from the opposition. [14] Maura resigned on 16 December 1904, following the King's refusal to sign the appointment of General Francisco Loño to the newly-created post of Chief of the Central Staff of the Army—with Alfonso XIII preferring General Camilo García de Polavieja instead [21] —sparking a political crisis as no other Conservative leader could command the party's parliamentary support: an interim cabinet by Marcelo Azcárraga fell within one month over disagreements on the date of re-opening of the Cortes, [22] [23] [24] and a second government under Villaverde was left in a clear minority, surviving only for as long as the parliament remained closed. [12] [25] Once the Cortes were re-opened, the government suffered a string of parliamentary defeats until it was brought down in a vote of confidence on 20 June 1905. [12] [26] Both Silvela and Villaverde would die within a few weeks of each other in 1905, leaving Maura as the sole undisputed leader of the Conservative Party. [11] [12]
Sagasta's death had left the Liberal Party in need of a new leader and political direction. [27] In a parliamentary assembly held on 15 November 1903, Eugenio Montero Ríos narrowly outvoted Segismundo Moret among party legislators (210 to 194), but fell short of the two-thirds majority required for election. [28] [29] [30] The party split into two factions, with Montero Ríos being joined by José López Domínguez and José Canalejas—who had left both the Liberal government and party the previous year over his disagreement with Moret and Sagasta's deal with the Holy See on the issue of religious orders [31] [32] —into the new Liberal Democratic Party. [29] [33] In June 1905, amid the crisis of the Conservative government (seeing five cabinets succeeding each other within two years), Montero Ríos and Moret agreed on an united front to pose a viable political alternative, [34] which bore fruit upon the former's appointment as prime minister on 23 June. [29] [35] [36]
The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system. [37] Both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate had legislative, control and budgetary functions, sharing equal powers except for laws on contributions or public credit, the first reading of which corresponded to Congress, and impeachment processes against government ministers, in which each chamber had separate powers of indictment (Congress) and trial (Senate). [38] [39] Voting for each chamber of the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage and censitary suffrage, respectively:
The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, distributed among the provinces of Spain. [44] 98 seats were distributed among 28 multi-member constituencies and elected using a partial block voting system: in constituencies electing eight seats or more, electors could vote for no more than three candidates less than the number of seats to be allocated; in those with more than four seats and up to eight, for no more than two less; and in those with more than one seat and up to four, for no more than one less. [45] The remaining seats—306 for the 1905 election—were allocated to single-member districts and elected using plurality voting. [46] Additionally, literary universities, economic societies of Friends of the Country and officially organized chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture were entitled to one seat per each 5,000 registered voters that they comprised. [47]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats: [46] [48]
Seats | Constituencies |
---|---|
8 | Madrid |
7 | Barcelona |
5 | Palma, Seville |
4 | Cartagena |
3 | Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Las Palmas (+2), Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza |
For the Senate, 180 seats were elected using an indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting system. [49] [50] Voters in the economic societies, the local councils and major taxpayers elected delegates—equivalent in number to one per each 50 members (in each economic society) or to one-sixth of the councillors (in each local council), with an initial minimum of one—who, together with other voting-able electors, would in turn vote for senators. [51] The provinces of Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia were allocated four seats each, whereas each of the remaining provinces was allocated three seats, for a total of 150. [52] [53] The remaining 30 were allocated to special districts comprising a number of institutions, electing one seat each—the archdioceses of Burgos, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tarragona, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; the six oldest royal academies (the Royal Spanish; History; Fine Arts of San Fernando; Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences; Moral and Political Sciences and Medicine); the universities of Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Oviedo, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; and the economic societies of Friends of the Country from Madrid, Barcelona, León, Seville and Valencia. [54]
An additional 180 seats comprised senators in their own right—the monarch's offspring and the heir apparent once coming of age; grandees of Spain with an annual income of at least Pts 60,000 (from their own real estate or from rights that enjoy the same legal consideration); captain generals of the Army and admirals of the Navy; the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops; and the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life appointed directly by the monarch. [55]
The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislature's term. [56] [57]
For the Congress, Spanish citizens of age, of secular status, in full enjoyment of their civil rights and with the legal capacity to vote could run for election, provided that they were not contractors of public works or services, within the territorial scope of their contracts; nor holders of government-appointed offices and presidents or members of provincial deputations—during their tenure of office and up to one year after their dismissal—in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction, except for government ministers and civil servants in the Central Administration. [58] [59] A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these: [60] [61]
For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish citizens over 35 years of age and not subject to criminal prosecution, disfranchisement nor asset seizure, provided that they were entitled to be appointed as senators in their own right or belonged or had belonged to one of the following categories: [62] [63]
Other causes of ineligibility for the Senate were imposed on territorial-level officers in government bodies and institutions—during their tenure of office and up to three months after their dismissal—in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction; contractors of public works or services; tax collectors and their guarantors; debtors of the State; deputies; local councillors (except those in Madrid); and provincial deputies for their respective provinces. [64]
The term of each chamber of the Cortes—the Congress and one-half of the elective part of the Senate—expired five years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. [65] The previous Congress and Senate elections were held on 26 April and 10 May 1903, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 26 April and 10 May 1908, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election. [66] [67] There was no constitutional requirement for concurrent elections to the Congress and the Senate, nor for the elective part of the Senate to be renewed in its entirety except in the case that a full dissolution was agreed by the monarch. Still, there was only one case of a separate election (for the Senate in 1877) and no half-Senate elections taking place under the 1876 Constitution.
The Cortes were officially dissolved on 17 August 1905, with the dissolution decree setting the election dates for 10 September (for the Congress) and 24 September 1905 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 11 October. [68]
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Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||
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Votes | % | |||
Liberal Party–Liberal Democratic Party (PL–PLD) | 226 | |||
Conservative Party (PC) | 105 | |||
Republican Union (UR) | 25 | |||
Villaverdist Conservatives (V) | 16 | |||
Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) | 7 | |||
Regionalist League (LR) | 7 | |||
Federal Republican Party (PRF) | 5 | |||
Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT) | 4 | |||
Integrist Party (PI) | 3 | |||
Independents (INDEP) | 6 | |||
Total | 404 | |||
Votes cast / turnout | ||||
Abstentions | ||||
Registered voters | ||||
Sources [69] [70] [71] [72] [73] [74] [75] [76] [77] |
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Parties and alliances | Seats | |
---|---|---|
Liberal Party–Liberal Democratic Party (PL–PLD) | 109 | |
Conservative Party (PC) | 47 | |
Villaverdist Conservatives (V) | 4 | |
Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT) | 2 | |
Regionalist League (LR) | 2 | |
Republican Union (UR) | 1 | |
Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) | 1 | |
Federal Republican Party (PRF) | 1 | |
Independents (INDEP) | 4 | |
Archbishops (ARCH) | 9 | |
Total elective seats | 180 | |
Sources [78] [79] [80] [81] [82] |
Group | Parties and alliances | C | S | Total | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PL–PLD | Liberal Party–Liberal Democratic Party (PL–PLD) | 225 | 107 | 334 | ||
Basque Dynastics (Urquijist) (DV) | 1 | 1 | ||||
PC | Conservative Party (PC) | 105 | 48 | 153 | ||
UR | Republican Union (UR) | 25 | 1 | 26 | ||
V | Villaverdist Conservatives (V) | 16 | 4 | 20 | ||
LR | Regionalist League (LR) | 7 | 2 | 9 | ||
PLR | Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) | 7 | 1 | 8 | ||
PRF | Federal Republican Party (PRF) | 5 | 1 | 6 | ||
CT | Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT) | 4 | 2 | 6 | ||
PI | Integrist Party (PI) | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||
INDEP | Independents (INDEP) | 5 | 4 | 10 | ||
Independent Catholics (CAT) | 1 | 0 | ||||
ARCH | Archbishops (ARCH) | 0 | 9 | 9 | ||
Total | 404 | 180 | 584 |