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The first general elections in the history of the Ottoman Empire were held in 1877. [1]
Provisional Electoral Regulations were issued on 29 October 1876, stating that the elected members of the Provincial Administrative Councils would elect members to the first Parliament of the Ottoman Empire. On 24 December a new constitution was promulgated, which provided for a bicameral Parliament with a Senate appointed by the Sultan and a popularly elected Chamber of Deputies. [1]
Only men above the age of 30 who were competent in Ottoman Turkish and had full civil rights were allowed to stand for election. Reasons for disqualification included holding dual citizenship, being employed by a foreign government, being bankrupt, employed as a servant, or having "notoriety for ill deeds". [1]
Parliament convened on 19 March 1877 and adjourned on 28 June. Fresh elections were held later in the year for a new Parliament that convened in December. [1]
The 1870s was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1870, and ended on December 31, 1879.
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey, usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament, is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 amid the National Campaign. This constitution had founded its pre-government known as 1st Executive Ministers of Turkey in May 1920. The parliament was fundamental in the efforts of Mareşal Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1st President of the Republic of Turkey, and his colleagues to found a new state out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire.
The Senate is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 136 seats, to which members are elected by direct popular vote using party-list proportional representation in 43 electoral districts, to serve four-year terms.
The Parliament of Albania or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to a four-year term on the basis of direct, universal, periodic and equal suffrage by secret ballot. The Parliament is presided over by the Speaker, who is assisted by at least one deputy speaker. The electoral system is based on party-list proportional representation. There are 12 multi-seat constituencies, corresponding to the country's counties.
The Second Constitutional Era was the period of restored parliamentary rule in the Ottoman Empire between the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the 1920 dissolution of the General Assembly, during the empire's twilight years.
The First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire was the period of constitutional monarchy from the promulgation of the Ottoman constitution of 1876, written by members of the Young Ottomans, that began on 23 December 1876 and lasted until 14 February 1878. These Young Ottomans were dissatisfied by the Tanzimat and instead pushed for a constitutional government similar to that in Europe. The constitutional period started with the dethroning of Sultan Abdulaziz. Abdul Hamid II took his place as Sultan. The era ended with the suspension of the Ottoman Parliament and the constitution by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, with which he restored his own absolute monarchy.
Starting in the 19th century the Ottoman Empire's governing structure slowly transitioned and standardized itself into a Western style system of government, sometimes known as the Imperial Government. Mahmud II (r. 1808–1839) initiated this process following the disbandment and massacre of the Janissary corps, at this point a conservative bureaucratic elite, in the Auspicious Incident. A long period of reform known as the Tanzimat period started, which yielded much needed reform to the government and social contract with the multicultural citizens of the empire.
The Constitution of the Ottoman Empire was in effect from 1876 to 1878 in a period known as the First Constitutional Era, and from 1908 to 1922 in the Second Constitutional Era. The first and only constitution of the Ottoman Empire, it was written by members of the Young Ottomans, particularly Midhat Pasha, during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. After Abdul Hamid's political downfall in the 31 March Incident, the Constitution was amended to transfer more power from the sultan and the appointed Senate to the popularly-elected lower house: the Chamber of Deputies.
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the eighth parliament of New South Wales held their seats from 1874 to 1877. The 1874–75 election was held between 8 December 1874 and 12 January 1875 with parliament first meeting on 27 January 1875. There were 72 members elected for 52 single member electorates, 6 two member electorates and 2 four member electorates. During this parliament the number of graduates of Sydney University exceeded 100 and the seat of University of Sydney was created. The maximum term of this parliament was 3 years and the assembly was dissolved after 34 months. Premiers during this parliament were Sir John Robertson 9 February 1875 till 22 March 1877 and from 17 August 1877 and Sir Henry Parkes 22 March 1877 till 17 August 1877. The Speaker was William Arnold until his death on 1 March 1875 and then George Allen.
The Reichstag of the German Empire was Germany's lower House of Parliament from 1871 to 1918. Within the governmental structure of the Reich, it represented the national and democratic element alongside the federalism of the Bundesrat and the monarchic and bureaucratic element of the executive, embodied in the Reich chancellor. Together with the Bundesrat, the Reichstag had legislative power and shared in decision-making on the budget. It also had certain rights of control over the executive branch and could engage the public through its debates. The emperor had little political power, and over time the position of the Reichstag strengthened with respect to both the imperial government and the Bundesrat.
The Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire was the lower house of the General Assembly, the Ottoman Parliament. Unlike the upper house, the Senate, the members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by the general Ottoman populace, although suffrage was limited to males of a certain financial standing, among other restrictions that varied over the Chamber's lifetime.
General elections were held in November and December 1908 for all 288 seats of the Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire, following the Young Turk Revolution which established the Second Constitutional Era. They were the first elections contested by organised political parties.
General elections were held in the Ottoman Empire in 1914. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) was the only party to contest the elections, and the newly elected Chamber of Deputies convened for the first time in May.
General elections were held in the Ottoman Empire in 1919 and were the last official elections held in the Empire. Due to the dearth of political parties, the elections were dominated by the Association for Defence of National Rights (A-RMHC), which consisted of nationalist local groups protesting against the Allied occupation of Turkey.
General elections were held in the Ottoman Empire in 1920 in order to select delegates to the new Grand National Assembly. The elections were dominated by the Association for the Defense of the Rights of Anatolia and Rumelia, which consisted of nationalist local groups protesting against the Allied occupation of Turkey.
General elections were held in the Ottoman Empire during the second half of 1877.
Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 20 February 1877 to elect members of the Grand National Assembly. The elections were called by Prince Milan on 13 February in order to convene a Grand National Assembly, which would have four times as many members as a normal National Assembly. The newly elected Assembly was to convene on 26 February in the National Theatre.
During the late Ottoman Empire, some elements of government were democratized. Seven general elections were held for the Chamber of Deputies, the popularly elected lower house of the General Assembly, the Ottoman parliament, two in the First Constitutional Era (1877–1878), and five in the Second Constitutional Era (1908–1920). The Chamber of Deputies used Ottoman electoral law. Local elections were held for provincial (Vilayet) assemblies, though they quickly fell out of fashion. In addition, Armenian, Protestant, and Jewish millets had their own assemblies: an Armenian National Assembly, a Protestant General Assembly, and a Jewish General Assembly, which held millet wide elections, with varying degrees of suffrage granted to laity outside Istanbul.
The Senate of the Ottoman Empire was the upper house of the parliament of the Ottoman Empire, the General Assembly. Its members were appointed notables in the Ottoman government who, along with the elected lower house Chamber of Deputies, made up the General Assembly. It was created in its first incarnation according to the Ottoman constitution of 1876, which sought to reform the Ottoman Empire into a constitutional monarchy.
Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia in 1829 and 1830 to elect members of a Grand National Assembly. It was the first National Assembly whose members were elected by the people.