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1886 Spanish general election
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A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 4 April (for the Congress of Deputies) and on Sunday, 25 April 1886 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 4th Restoration Cortes. All 434[a] seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate. The electorate comprised about 4.6% of the country's population.[1]
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During this period, an informal system colloquially known as El Turno Pacífico (English: The Peaceful Turn) was operated by the two main parties in the country—the Conservatives and the Liberals—to determine in advance the result of the election, often through the encasillado, caciquism and election rigging, ensuring that both parties would have alternating periods in power. As a result, elections were often neither truly free nor fair, though they could be more competitive in the country's urban centres where this system was weaker.
The election resulted in a large majority for the government-supported candidates of the Liberal Party, which was possible through Antonio Cánovas del Castillo's peaceful handover of power to Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, in what came to be known as the Pact of El Pardo. Running against the pact were the Francisco Romero Robledo and José López Domínguez-led factions within the Conservative and Liberal parties, respectively, but which failed to achieve decisive breakthroughs. The resulting legislature would come to be known as the "Long Parliament" (Spanish: Parlamento Largo): lasting from 1886 to 1891, it would be the only one during the Restoration period to last its full five year-term.[2]
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Background
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The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a semi-constitutional monarchy, awarding the monarch the right of legislative initiative together with the bicameral Cortes; the capacity to veto laws passed by the legislative body; the power to appoint senators and government members (including the prime minister); as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the armed forces.[3] The monarch would play a key role in the system of el turno pacífico (English: the Peaceful Turn) by appointing and dismissing governments, which would then organize elections to provide themselves with a parliamentary majority. Under this informal system, the two major political parties at the time, the Conservatives and the Liberals—characterized as elite parties with loose structures dominated by internal factions, each led by powerful individuals—alternated in power by means of election rigging, which they achieved through the encasillado, allocating candidates to seats before the elections were held, then use the links between the Ministry of Governance and the extensive clientelist networks of provincial governors and local bosses (the caciques) to ensure victory and exclude minor parties from the power sharing.[4][5]
The death of King Alfonso XII in November 1885 at the age of 27, with no heir apparent and with her spouse—Maria Christina of Austria—poised to become queen regent under the provisions of the Constitution, had seen a prospective political crisis being averted by the informal Pact of El Pardo between Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, incumbent prime minister and Conservative leader, and Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, leader of the opposition Liberal Party. Through the agreement, both political parties—which had dominated Spanish politics during the early Restoration period—aimed to temporarily thwart the political fighting within the monarchist camp and provide stability to the regime by definitely establishing the turno system of alternance. As a result, Cánovas peacefully handed over power to Sagasta, who earlier that year had unified the various factions within his party under the "guarantee law": an agreement under which the Liberals would develop the freedoms and rights recognized during the Democratic Sexennium in exchange for the acceptance of shared sovereignty between the King and the Cortes, a basic principle of the 1876 Constitution.[6][7] Francisco Romero Robledo, who vied for power with Francisco Silvela within the Conservative party, split off in protest to Cánovas' "voluntary relinquishment" of government.[8][9][10] In May 1886, Maria Cristina would give birth to Alfonso XII's posthumous son, who would automatically become King Alfonso XIII.[11]
The 1884–1885 period saw some calamities that the Cánovas government had to handle, such as the Alcudia bridge disaster, the 1884 Andalusian earthquake and the 1885 cholera epidemic in Spain. It also saw the Berlin Conference, the starting point of the Scramble for Africa, in which Spain successfully claimed and established the colony of Spanish Sahara. The Carolines Question, a conflict between Spain and the German Empire over the sovereignty of the Caroline Islands and Palau in the western Pacific, was resolved through arbitration by the Holy See.[6]
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Overview
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Electoral system
The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system.[12] 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).[13][14] Voting for each chamber of the Cortes was on the basis of censitary suffrage:
- For the Congress, it comprised national males over 25 years of age fulfilling one of the following criteria: being taxpayers with a minimum quota of 25 Pt per territorial contribution (paid at least one year in advance) or 50 Pt per industrial subsidy (paid at least two years in advance); having a particular position (full academics in the royal academies; members of ecclesiastical councils, including parish priests; active public employees with a yearly salary of at least 2,000 Pt; unemployed and retired public employees; general officers of the Army and Navy exempt from service, and retired military and naval chiefs and officers; reporters, chamber secretaries and court clerks of higher courts; and certified teachers); painters and sculptors awarded in national or international exhibitions; or those having at least a two-year residency in a municipality, provided that an educational or professional capacity could be proven.[15][16][17] In Cuba and Puerto Rico, the taxpayer quota requirement was set at 125 Pt for both the territorial contribution and the industrial or trade subsidy; additionally for the Spanish West Indies, those who, having been subject to servitude, had not been freed and exempt from patronage for at least three years, were barred from being electors.[18][19] As a result of the Basque Provinces and Navarre not paying territorial and industrial contributions in individual installments—owing to their special chartered regime—electors in those territories were instead required to prove having a capital of 2,400 Pt in real estate, crops or livestock, or 4,800 Pt in industry, commerce, profession or trade.[20]
- Electors were required to not being sentenced—by a final court ruling—to perpetual disqualification from political rights or public offices, to afflictive penalties not legally rehabilitated at least two years in advance, nor to other criminal penalties that remained unserved at the time of the election; neither being legally incapacitated, bankrupt, insolvent, nor debtors of public funds.[15][18]
- For the Senate, it comprised archbishops and bishops (in the ecclesiastical councils); full academics (in the royal academies); rectors, full professors, enrolled doctors, directors of secondary education institutes and heads of special schools in their respective territories (in the universities); the members of the economic societies of Friends of the Country with at least a three-year-old membership; provincial deputies; major taxpayers and Spanish citizens of age, being householders living in a town of the country and in full enjoyment of their political and civil rights (in the local councils).[21]
The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants. 111 seats were distributed among 31 multi-member constituencies and elected using a partial block voting system: in constituencies electing eight seats, electors could vote for up to six candidates; in those with seven seats, for up to five candidates; in those with six seats, for up to four; and in those with four or five seats, for up to three candidates. The remaining seats—322 for the 1886 election—were allocated to single-member districts and elected using plurality voting. Additionally, up to ten deputies could be elected through cumulative voting in several single-member constituencies, provided that they obtained more than 10,000 votes overall.[22][23][24]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:[25][26][27]
For the Senate, 180 seats were elected using an indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting system.[28] State corporations, 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)—who would in turn vote for senators.[29] The provinces of Álava, Albacete, Ávila, Biscay, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Guipúzcoa, Huelva, Logroño, Matanzas, Palencia, Pinar del Río, Puerto Príncipe, Santa Clara, Santander, Santiago de Cuba, Segovia, Soria, Teruel, Valladolid and Zamora were allocated two seats each, whereas each of the remaining provinces was allocated three seats, for a total of 147.[30][31][32] The remaining 33 were allocated to special districts comprising a number of institutions, electing one seat each—the archdioceses of Burgos, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Cuba, 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, Havana, Oviedo, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; and the economic societies of Friends of the Country from Madrid, Barcelona, Havana–Puerto Rico, León, Seville and Valencia.[31][33]
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 60,000 Pt (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.[34]
The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislature's term.[35][36]
Eligibility
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, in the year prior to the election; nor holders of government-appointed offices, presidents of provincial deputations and members of their permanent commissions, local mayors and deputy mayors, as well as presidents of polling stations and civil, mining and forest engineers—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;[37][38] additionally for the Spanish West Indies, those who, having been subject to servitude, had not been freed and exempt from patronage for at least ten years, were barred from running.[39] A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these:[40]
- Civil, military and judicial positions with a permanent residence in Madrid and a yearly public salary of at least 12,500 Pt;
- The holders of a number of positions: the president, prosecutors and chamber presidents of the territorial court of Madrid; the rector and full professors of the Central University of Madrid; inspectors of engineers; and general officers of the Army and Navy based in Madrid.
For the Senate, eligibility was limited to those entitled to be appointed as senators in their own right or those who belonged or had belonged to one of the following categories:[41][42]
- Those who had ever served as senators before the promulgation of the 1876 Constitution; and deputies having served in at least three different congresses or eight terms;
- The holders of a number of positions: presidents of the Senate and the Congress; government ministers; bishops; grandees of Spain not eligible as senators in their own right; and presidents and directors of the royal academies;
- Provided an annual income of at least 7,500 Pt from either their own property, salaries from jobs that cannot be lost except for legally proven cause, or from retirement, withdrawal or termination: full academics of the aforementioned corporations on the first half of the seniority scale in their corps; first-class inspectors general of the corps of civil, mining and forest engineers; and full professors with at least four years of seniority in their category and practice;
- Provided two prior years of service: Army's lieutenant generals and Navy's vice admirals; and other members and prosecutors of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, and the dean of the Court of Military Orders;
- Ambassadors after two years of service and plenipotentiaries after four;
- Those with an annual income of 20,000 Pt or were taxpayers with a minimum quota of 4,000 Pt in direct contributions at least two years in advance, as long as they were of the Spanish nobility, had been previously deputies, provincial deputies or mayors in provincial capitals or towns over 20,000 inhabitants.
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.[43]
Election date
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. The previous Congress and Senate elections were held on 27 April and 8 May 1884, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 27 April and 8 May 1889, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.[44][45] 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 8 March 1886, with the dissolution decree setting the election dates for 4 April (for the Congress) and 25 April 1886 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 10 May.[46]
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Results
Congress of Deputies
Senate
Distribution by group
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By-elections
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Summary of Congress of Deputies and Senate by-elections in the 1886–1890 period.[51][52] Where seats changed political affiliation at the election, the result is highlighted:
Congress
Senate
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Notes
- Including one seat by cumulative voting.
- Martín Sánchez was initially proclaimed as elected candidate, but the Congress declared his ineligibility on 12 June 1886, after he was found to have been serving as secretary of the Board of Agriculture, Industry and Trade, and Secretary of the Standing Committee on Grain Deposits, at the time of the election, This was in breach of Article 9.1 of the Congress' electoral law, relating to causes of ineligibility.[56]
- As a result of a tie, both Francisco Ansaldo y Otalora (PL) and Iván Aranguren y Alzaga (ID) were initially proclaimed as elected candidates. On 2 June 1886, the Congress ordered a recount, determined the impossibility of resolving the tie, nullified the results and ordered a by-election for 18 July, which was won by Ansaldo y Otalora.[57]
- De la Rosa García was initially proclaimed as elected candidate, but the Congress declared his ineligibility on 19 July 1886, after he was found to have served as a member of the permanent commission of the provincial deputation of Seville until November 1885, with the election having been held before one year had elapsed. This was in breach of Articles 9.2 and 10 of the Congress' electoral law, relating to causes of ineligibility.[62] A by-election on 22 August was won by Montejo y Rica against De la Rosa after a recount, with the latter's cause of ineligibility still being in force.[63]
- As per Article 31 of the Constitution, serving deputies that were appointed by the Government or the Royal Household to a position different than a cabinet-level minister, closed rank, commission with salary, honors or decorations, were deemed to be automatically dismissed from their parliamentary position within fifteen days, unless they resigned their seats or notified Congress of their resignation from the appointment.
- Acosta y Calvo was initially proclaimed as elected candidate, but the Congress declared his ineligibility on 1 February 1887, after he was found to have been a contractor for the printing of documents for the Finance offices in Puerto Rico until June 1885, the printing of Lottery tickets until November 1885, and the printing of the Official Gazette of Puerto Rico until February 1886, with the election having been held before one year had elapsed. This was in breach of Articles 8.7, 9.5 and 10 of the Congress' electoral law, relating to causes of ineligibility.[101]
- Gustavo de Reyna y Latorre (PLC) was initially proclaimed as elected candidate, but a recount resulted in the seat being awarded to Padierna instead.
- Crespo y Visiedo was initially proclaimed as elected candidate, but the Congress declared his ineligibility on 24 January 1887, after he was found to have been serving as a member of the permanent commission of the provincial deputation of Matanzas at the time of the election. This was in breach of Article 9.2 of the Congress' electoral law, relating to causes of ineligibility.[127]
- José Gassó y Martí (M) was initially proclaimed as elected candidate. On 13 July 1889, the Congress ordered a recount, determined the existence of artificial results and dead people voting, nullified the results and ordered a by-election for 18 August, which was won by Pedro Cort y Gisbert (PL).[225]
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