1922 Romanian general election

General elections were held in Romania between 1 and 3 March 1922. In the first stage between 1 and 3 March, seats in the Senate were elected. In the second stage between 5 and 7 March the Chamber of Deputies was elected, and in the third and final stage from 9 to 11 March, additional Senate seats were elected.[1] The result was a victory for the governing National Liberal Party, which won 222 of the 372 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 111 of the 148 seats in the Senate.[2] Both houses were combined to form a Constitutional Assembly,[3] which approved the 1923 constitution.

1922 Romanian general election

1–3 March 1922

All 372 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
All 148 seats in the Senate
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Ion I. C. Brătianu Constantin Stere
Party PNL
Leader's seat Gorj County Soroca County
Seats won 222 C / 111 S 40 C / 11 S
Seat change Increase 206 C / Increase 110 S Increase 15 C / Increase 1 S

Prime Minister before election

Ion I. C. Brătianu
PNL

Subsequent Prime Minister

Ion I. C. Brătianu
PNL

Campaign

In 34 of the 121 constituencies in Transylvania, candidates ran unopposed and were proclaimed elected without an actual poll,[4] mostly because the National Liberal government refused to register opposition candidates. Overall, the campaign was dominated by the government through what some opposition representative deemed "terror". The National Liberals freely used the administration and the Army in order to promote its candidates and intimidate the opposition, rejected the registration of many opposition candidates while pressuring others into withdrawing, destroyed opposition publications, forbade or brutally dissolved opposition rallies, arrested candidates and worked to split the vote among the competing opposition parties.[5]

Government pressure continued during election day. According to Constantin Stere, army officers in Bessarabia campaigned for the government inside the polling stations and entered voting booths to ensure a vote for the government. According to Nicolae Iorga, government agents beat up opposition supporters in Fălticeni, Dorohoi and Odobești, prevented whole villages from voting in the Putna County, while in Argeș County the soldiers voted instead of the public. In several places across the country, opposition candidates were prevented from voting. Opposition leaders condemned the abuses of the government, with Romanian National Party leader Iuliu Maniu declaring the elections "a European scandal" and initially refusing to take part in the works of the newly elected Parliament.[5]

Results

Chamber of Deputies

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
National Liberal Party222+206
Peasants' Party40+15
Romanian National Party26–1
Bessarabian Peasants' Party22–1
Democratic Union Party15+14
People's Party13–193
Democratic Nationalist Party5
Hungarian Union3New
Conservative-Democratic Party3–14
Federation of Socialist Parties1New
Other parties22
Total372+6
Total votes2,210,370
Registered voters/turnout2,908,01576.01
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Senate

PartySeats+/–
National Liberal Party111+110
Bessarabian Peasants' Party13+7
Peasants' Party11+1
Romanian National Party9–5
People's Party2–122
Democratic Nationalist Party2
Total148–18
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

Citations

  1. Nohlen & Stöver (2010), p. 1591.
  2. Nohlen & Stöver (2010), p. 1599.
  3. Nohlen & Stöver (2010), p. 1592.
  4. Radu, Sorin (2000). "Electoratul din Transilvania în primii ani după marea unire". Apulum (in Romanian). 37 (2): 229–245. ISSN 1013-428X.
  5. Stan, Constantin I. (1997). "Puterea și opoziția în alegerile parlamentare din martie 1922". Apulum (in Romanian). 34: 581–597. ISSN 1013-428X. Retrieved 20 January 2021.

Bibliography

  • Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
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