The first parliamentary elections in Bulgaria

Parliamentary elections in Bulgaria in 1879 are regular parliamentary elections in the Principality of Bulgaria to elect new MPs. They involved the two leading political forces in Bulgaria - Liberal and Conservative Party. On August 29, 1879 Prince Alexander I Battenberg signed Decree № 126, which schedule the elections for MPs on 30 September the same year. On election day, low turnout of 32% led to a landslide win of the Liberal Party and on October 21 MPs of the first National Assembly of the Bulgarian Principality gathered in Sofia. According to the established practice of parliamentary democracy, the prince assigned to the leader of the majority to form a government. Unhappy with the outcome of the election he turns to Emperor Alexander II, asking him for permission to dismantle the National Assembly. Petersburg disagreed and the prince offered Petko Karavelov to form a government with the participation of Dimitar Grekov and Grigor Nachovich, which doomed the mission to fail. The negotiations ended without result and on November 24, 1879 Battenberg dissolved the National Assembly and formed a government headed by Metropolitan Kliment, in which again the leading role was of the conservatives. The first free parliamentary elections in Bulgaria were held thanks to the generous crop of beans and maize. In 1879 deputies of the Constituent Assembly were selected with grains of both crops. The reason is that at the time, few were literate. Even officials could hardly read and write. That's why the builders of the young Principality turned to ancient Greece, the cradle of democracy. There elections were held with beans. Candidates for high office turned helmets upside down and citizens voted by putting beans in them. Then the results were counted and the winner was the one with the most beans in the helmet. Corn voting was added representing negative vote so that it could be clear who would enter the Assembly and who would remain overboard. With a sack of beans were elected 92 MPs. Besides them, there are three types of members: 12 by titles, 106 members of the higher courts and 19 appointed by the Imperial Commissioner Prince Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov. (Photo: magazine Science)