Actually, if the Electoral Act will also pass the Constitutional Court, than PNL would have nothing to be afraid about, since all third parties would be dennied running a candidate for President from the start in any Presidential election and since they were the only second party both in 1884 and 1888, only they and the Conservatives would be allowed to field candidates. However, I imagine that the Socialists won't take this kindly and would organize large scale protests, maybe even a general strike. However, the law doesn't forbid Third-Party candidates from running for Parliament.
We Require no Protection - A Romania TL
- Thread starter Richthofen
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Actually, if the Electoral Act will also pass the Constitutional Court, than PNL would have nothing to be afraid about, since all third parties would be dennied running a candidate for President from the start in any Presidential election and since they were the only second party both in 1884 and 1888, only they and the Conservatives would be allowed to field candidates. However, I imagine that the Socialists won't take this kindly and would organize large scale protests, maybe even a general strike. However, the law doesn't forbid Third-Party candidates from running for Parliament.
There are chances that they (PNL) will be the third party in 1888, considering they lost around half their support and the battleground circumscriptions will lean heavily conservative this time around. If that happens, 1892 will be a socialist vs conservative year.
But if the Electoral Act passes why there would be this risk? The Socialist Party didn't run in 1884 so it wouldn't be able to back a reelection campaign for President Rosetti.
If the PNL can't secure the 2nd place in the legislative election of 1888, then they won't be able to field a presidential candidate in 1892, even if they win the 1888 presidential election.
Chapter XXXIV
CHAPTER XXXIV
Preparation for the legislative election of 1888 was now the thing that stood permanently in the back of the brains of party leaders, strategists and battleground candidates, even more so for those that belonged to the PS and PNL. The republicans were the only ones whose strategy was a bit different, since they realized that their level of support was not high enough to warrant a strong battle for the second place, but rather an honourable battle that would allow them to pressure the winning party on both the presidential and legislative level to take them into account. At the same time, the conservatives were on high horses and being an example of unity and coherence, were highly confident that they would easily win both the presidency and a large enough number of seats to dictate the policy of the country for at least eight years. At the same time, the clandestine battle that had been raging inside the Constitutional Court ever since the politicians started fighting their political wars with appeals and requests from the institution was getting more and more visible, with a group of politically non-affiliated citizens requesting that the parties keep the Court out of their wars and lust for power. The Court itself requested a longer time than usual to ponder on whether the law brought forward by the PNL was constitutional or not and many judges preferred to not even return to their homes in fear of angry political sympathizers that could target them. The unusually high pressure from both the parties and a number of citizens made the members of the Court consider changing the functioning act of the institution to make votes of the individual judges secret, in order to protect them from becoming targets. Many liberals blamed the judges appointed by former Presidents Magheru and Kogălniceanu who they believed should have stood with them against the socialists, but had betrayed their constituents when they allowed the socialists to become a legal party. The Court finally released a public statement in September 1886, where they made the case that they were not bound by contract with “constituents”, and that their only duty was to the Romanian people and the Constitution.
Composition of the Constitutional Court of Romania, 1886
In yellow - Magheru/Kogălniceanu appointees
In blue - Catargiu/Carp appointees
In dark yellow - Cuza appointees
In red - Rosetti appointees
At the time, the Constitutional Court was composed of three judges of the original eleven appointed by President Magheru, two were appointed by President Cuza, two by President Catargiu, one by President Carp, two more by President Kogălniceanu, and lastly one appointed by outgoing President Rosetti in his second year in office. Only ten of the eleven judges had a full vote, while the eleventh, the Chairman of the Court had no vote unless there was a tie and he would cast the break. The chairman on the other hand, by the statute of the Court (1850) was to release public statements or inform Parliament directly of the decisions made whenever he saw fit. The judges vote, had up until then been public and everyone knew which judge was in favour of what appeal and which one rejected it. Chairman Constantin Brăiloiu, Catargiu appointee and former Conservative Speaker of the Assembly, had decided that would take matter into his own hands and work on modifying the statute so that decision making inside the Court would be made secretly and then the chairman would reveal the decision without naming judges. As such, the Court would simply have an institutional position and nothing more. This was, of course, opposed fiercely by both conservative and liberal establishments, who saw this as a way for the judges to break faith without any fear of political repercussion. The move, however was saluted by President Rosetti and the socialists, who welcomed the change as a strengthening of Romanian democracy and a weakening of political interference in the judiciary.
Brăiloiu și decizia (eng. Brăiloiu and the Decision) - Caricature of the Chairman of the Court, 1886
As the Constitutional Court took its time to ponder on whether the presidential election should be capped, President Rosetti continued to govern by simply issuing executive orders while the socialists continued to propose bill after bill, all rejected by a Conservative-Liberal coalition that their opponents nicknamed the “Second Monstrous Coalition” after the move that forced the late President Cuza to give up on his pursuit of a fourth term in office. At the end of 1886, President Rosetti was given an award by a confederation of Jewish organizations, for his „outstanding work for the betterment of life in the citadel, minority rights and an all-inclusive and strong Romanian republic“. The president’s acceptance of this award brought him numerous critics from even his own movement, because while many socialists espoused a very progressive set of ideas for the era they lived in, many still rejected rights for those they deemed dangerous or even inferior. At the same time, both liberals and conservatives worked together in a campaign to undermine the president by painting him as beholden to anti-Romanian interests, even going as far as accusing him of pro-Hungarian sentiments and of wishes to dismantle the Romanian state. His anti-colonialism was painted as a form of keeping Romania weak and uninvolved in international treaties, while his reforms in terms of wages and workers’ rights were deemed as a form of undermining Romanian identity, by forcing ethnic Romanians to fight against one another. Nevertheless, while President Rosetti’s popularity remained extremely high with his base, many independents, left-leaners and single issues voters were driven away, making his overall popularity plummet. The expectation was that even if the Constitutional Court were to strike down the Electoral Act, President Rosetti was to face a very uphill battle for re-election, as the split vote of the left would definitely favour the PNL candidate. As the wait for the Court’s decision continued, the Great Debate went on to include even this aspect of Romanian politics – was it fairer to have a presidential election that included as many candidates, but would split the vote in such a way that there would only be required to obtain a small plurality in order to become president? Proponents of an open field election stressed the need for a run-off that would pit the two most successful candidates. At the same time, supporters of the PNL bill argued that a run-off would be nothing more than what they proposed, and the legislative election was a far more accurate portrayal of the popularity of parties and ideologies than a first round littered by small-time candidates that would heavily distort voting patterns. Regardless, when the decision of the Constitutional Court finally came in March 1887, chaos ensured once more. The Court decided that the Electoral Act did not, in any way, infringe upon the Constitution and that Parliament was sovereign in drafting electoral rules as per article III, which stated:
„Further laws and regulations regarding the Presidential Election shall be discussed and adopted by Parliament however they see fit.”
At the same time, the main argument of the socialists was that there were very clear rules as to whom can become president that were already laid out in the Constitution and none of them forbade anyone to participate because of their party membership. The Court’s response was that those rules can be supplemented by amendment or by non-organic electoral law, unless they contradict an existing article or stipulation, which, they aruged, was not the case with the Electoral Act. The final argument was that Article III mentioned that the president is elected with a majority of votes, which meant that an election with more than two candidates would violate this rule, since none would be able to reach a majority, thus an impasse would be reached.
Prietenul evreilor (eng. Friend of the Jews) - Caricature of President Rosetti receiving the award from the Jewish Community, 1886
The PS immediately denounced the decision and labeled it an affront to democracy and rule of law, and vowed to fight in any way they could to stop the Electoral Act. Regardless, their numbers in Parliament were not enough to fight back institutionally, so many of the PS-aligned unions were brought into the streets in a massive strike that paralyzed Bucharest for three weeks in March 1887. As the situation turned more and more dire, President Rosetti, previously an outspoken critic of the Court’s decision decided that the situation was untenable and advised both supporters of the PS, independents and leaners that did not believe the Court’s decision was fair to throw their support at the election, so that this unfair law could become history faster than it could produce undesirable effects. In a speech in front of the Hill, the president gave a message to his supporters and to the unions that he will obey the law in its form and the Court’s decision, even if it was unfavourable and unfair had to be respected, because if the institutions stop working as they had to, then the dissolution of the state would be imminent. Nevertheless, the strike and protests continued, but with time, the movement lost steam and supported and by the start of the primary season of 1888, it had gradually died down.
În așteptarea președintelui (eng. Waiting for the president) - Caricature of intellectuals and socialist supporters waiting for President Rosetti to give his speech at the Hill, 1887
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Not an accusation, but a curiosity: As some similarities stroke me, were you influenced in writing this constitutional crisis of 1886 by the current constitutional controversies in Romania?
Not really, no. Which controversies are you referring to?
I hope that there isn't a problem if I mention current politics, but I meant the swift and controversial passing by the current Parliament of the Judiciary Acts, which stroke my mind when I read about TTL Electoral Acts of 1886.
Also, why is the Constitutional Court led by a Conservative appointee, when they at their utmost had 3 judges out of 11?
They don't elect their representative based on political tribalism.
Excuse me for doing an intervention of such an old post, but this 1844 newspaper shouldn't have been written in the Cyrillic alphabet, since in OTL the Danubian Principalities used it until 1860-1862?
Zagan
Donor
I used the search feature with "latin alphabet" and checked the "searched this thread only".
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Chapter XXXV
CHAPTER XXXV
The leadership of the Conservative Party had done all it could to prevent a contested primary, something that was to be expected in a year in which everyone expected them to capture both the presidency and a comfortable majority in Parliament. The non-Bucharester organizations were, of course, irked by the fact that they were not able to push their candidates into the primary, but party leader Titu Maiorescu did not want to take any chances after having learned a painful lesson in 1876 when the Conservative candidate won the presidential election in a landslide, but the party itself failed to obtain a majority. In fact, Maiorescu himself was strongly pressured to participate in the primary, but ultimately decided to allow for a clean coronation of General Ion Em. Florescu. In the PNL camp, many still believed they had a chance of winning the presidency even after their failure to stop the party schism and the subsequent loss of socialist and cuzist support. Liberal strategists had hoped that turnout among those groups would reach record lows due to the fact that neither of them could participate in the election. At the same time, Brătianu’s leadership was now as shaky as ever and many even expected him to resign and allow for new blood to head the party. Nevertheless, he knew that a failed presidential run would completely destroy the political career that he had carefully built over the last 25 years. The frontrunners of the PNL primary emerged in January 1888 – former Minister of Culture in the Kogălniceanu Administration, Petre Aurelian and Senator George Barițiu. While the contest was not as heated as others had been up until then, the primary served as a useful distraction for the liberals as they went up into an election that was definitely not in their favour. Finally, Barițiu was nominated for the presidency and by party acclamation, Aurelian was nominated for the Vice Presidency, someone likening their nomination to that of the nation’s first president and VP. The liberals hoped to break at least part of the Conservative monopoly on Transylvania, by nominating a native of the province and an ardent supporter of the liberal wing of the Partida Națională back during Cuza’s presidency.
Even though the two parties selected candidates that were rather popular among their bases, both the liberal and the conservative nominees were rather old, with Barițiu even taking the record for the oldest person to receive a nomination – 75 years old. Seven years his junior, Florescu stood at 68, and he decided that would pick a younger vice president in order to ensure a smooth transition in case the large amount of stress in office would claim him early. General Gheorghe Manu (also former Minister of War in the Catargiu and Epureanu Cabinets) was proposed by the party establishment to take the VP spot and Florescu accepted without protest. Both republicans and socialists led an active campaign against both the liberal and conservative nominees – the liberals were named spineless cowards, unable to nominate a younger, more able man or woman to win the election and resorting to a weak old man they could easily sacrifice until they could go and lick their wounds, and the conservatives were lambasted for their choice of two generals and their overcautiousness. Liberal leader Brătianu was the direct target of socialist criticism, and was painted as a coward who would not fight with his party now that he brought them into a situation of near political irrelevance. Highly confident that they will be the 2nd party in the next election, the socialists burned all bridges with their former PNL colleagues but hoped to bring the republicans into their fold, who for better or for worse, continued to claim neutrality. At the same time, the various minority caucuses attempted to establish their own parties, in order to better make their voices heard in Government and Parliament, but the authorities tasked with validation of newly created parties used bureaucratic and legal artifices to block them. Blocked at every turn, most minority organizations moved with the socialists, hoping to at least get a number of seats in the upcoming Parliament, rather than go unrepresented.
12th Parliament of Romania (1888-1892)
Speaker of the Assembly: Titu Maiorescu (Conservative)
Opposition leaders: Ion C. Brătianu, Sofia Nădejde, Partenie Cosma
President of the Senate: Gheorghe Manu (Conservative)
În fine, nu doresc decât să'i felicit pe Roșii, cu tristețe în inimă, pentru că și'au atins scopul murdar pe carele și l'au stabilit încă de când munceau cot la cot cu domnul Brătianu – ați făcut această țară neguvernabilă!1
Titu Maiorescu (1888)
The conservatives extended an olive branch to the liberals in order to ensure that the position of Speaker would not remain vacant, and a protocol between the two parties was signed that made their MPs promise to vote for a member of the opposite party to lead the workings of the Assembly, if said party had a plurality in the chamber. As such, Maiorescu was finally confirmed as Speaker of the Assembly with PNL support. The protocol also included a provision for the non-presidential party to accept nominations for ministerial positions in the Senate without much hassle. Regardless, the ministerial picks of President Florescu were highly scrutinized by the socialists and republicans, and his Cabinet was mockingly called „Guvernul Generalilor“, for it had the largest amount of army figures of any cabinet since then. Another point of criticism was the president's decision to not include in his Cabinet's composition the Ministry of Labour.
Ioan Em. Florescu, 10th President of Romania
Florescu Administration
President: Ioan Emanoil Florescu (OC)
Vice President: Gheorghe Manu (OC)
Minister of Internal Affairs: Alexandru Marghiloman (J)
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Matei Vlădescu (OC)
Minister of War: Iacob Lahovari (OC)
Minister of Finance: Alexandru Știrbei (OC)
Minister of Justice: Ioan Rațiu (TC)2
Minister of Public Health: Constantin Istrati (J)
Minister of Education and Research: Constantin Olănescu (J)
Minister of Culture and Public Works: Take Ionescu (NC)
Nevertheless, the transfer of power between outgoing President Rosetti and President Florescu happened smoothly and without much hassle. Former President Rosetti confessed later in the year that leaving the presidency felt like a release, as the highly polarized politics of the republic had drained him of all his energy and the smouldering conflict between the socialists and all the other political forces was clearly something difficult to handle for some of his age. President Florescu decided to begin his term with a show of force, as Romanian envoys led by Vice President Manu sailed to the Sultanates of the Horn in order to make Romania’s place in the Congress of Berlin clear. As the ARI was no longer completely under his command, the president gave enlarged powers to certain loyal members of the DPP to work covertly so that the Italian influence would be curtailed and the Romanian administration would be smoothly extended to the Sultanates as fast as possible. For that very objective, President Florescu ordered the Minister of Foreign Affairs, General Matei Vlădescu to draft a plan of incorporation of the territories that belonged to the Romanian sphere of influence into a colonial administration.President: Ioan Emanoil Florescu (OC)
Vice President: Gheorghe Manu (OC)
Minister of Internal Affairs: Alexandru Marghiloman (J)
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Matei Vlădescu (OC)
Minister of War: Iacob Lahovari (OC)
Minister of Finance: Alexandru Știrbei (OC)
Minister of Justice: Ioan Rațiu (TC)2
Minister of Public Health: Constantin Istrati (J)
Minister of Education and Research: Constantin Olănescu (J)
Minister of Culture and Public Works: Take Ionescu (NC)
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1 Finally, with sadness in my heart, I wish to congratulate the Reds, for they have finally achieved the dirty end they had set upon since the time they worked hand-in-hand with Mr. Brătianu - you have made this country ungovernable!
2 Transylvanian Conservative
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Yay, coahbitation time!
Also, I know this might be an odd request, but could there be anything about regional elections (if there are any, that is)?
I didn't have anything of that sort in mind, but sure, I could work on some special chapters about local elections (assuming it's what you're interested in - mayors and local councils and that sort of stuff).
This, plus the steps above (definitely governors and county councils, and maybe also Regional Presidents and Regional Diets for Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania.)
Why governors,Regional Diets and Regional Presidents when Romania is a unitary state? There could only be county council presidents and mayors.
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