1931 Turkish general election explained

Country:Turkey
Type:parliamentary
Previous Election:1927 Turkish general election
Previous Year:1927
Next Election:1935 Turkish general election
Next Year:1935
Seats For Election:All 317 seats in the Grand National Assembly
Majority Seats:159
Election Date:25 April 1931
Turnout:88%
Image1:Ataturk1930s.jpg
Leader1:Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Party1:Republican People's Party
Last Election1:335
Seats1:287
Seat Change1: 48
Leader2:
Party2:Independents
Last Election2:0 seats
Seats2:30
Seat Change2: 30
Prime Minister
Before Election:İsmet İnönü
Before Party:Republican People's Party
After Election:İsmet İnönü
After Party:Republican People's Party

General elections were held in Turkey in 1931.[1] The Republican People's Party was the only party in the country at the time, as the Liberal Republican Party that had been set up the previous year had already been dissolved.[1] Voter turnout was reported to be 88%.[2]

Background

Candidates were nominated by the Council of the Presidency of the CHP. Unlike in previous elections, candidates were sought from across the country, with a total of 1,176 nominations for the 287 candidates.[1]

Electoral system

The elections were held under the Ottoman electoral law passed in 1908,[1] which provided for a two-stage process. In the first stage, voters elected secondary electors (one for the first 750 voters in a constituency, then one for every additional 500 voters). In the second stage the secondary electors elected the members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.[3]

Although the country was a one-party state at the time, thirty seats were set aside for independents. Independent candidates were required to be "republican, nationalist and sincere."[1]

Notes and References

  1. Myron E. Weiner, Ergun Özbudun (1987) Competitive Elections in Developing Countries, Duke University Press, p337
  2. Weiner & Özbudun, p340
  3. Weiner & Özbudun, p334