1922 Portuguese legislative election

1922 Portuguese legislative election

29 January 1922
All 163 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 82 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   PLR Leader Afonso Costa Álvaro de Castro Party Democratic PLR Reconstitution Last election 54 seats 79 seats 12 seats Seats won 74 34 17 Seat change 20 45 5   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   CMC Reg Leader António Lino Neto Party CM PCC Regionalist Last election 4 seats 3 seats 2 seats Seats won 13 5 2 Seat change 9 2
Prime Minister before election Francisco Cunha Leal Democratic Prime Minister after election Francisco Cunha Leal Democratic

Parliamentary elections were held in Portugal on 29 January 1922. The Democratic Party emerged as the largest in Parliament, winning 74 of the 163 seats in the House of Representatives and 37 of the 70 seats in the Senate.

Background

The elections were held less than a year after the July 1921 legislative elections, in which the Republican Liberal Party (PLR) had won a majority of votes. However, on 19 October 1921 ("the night of blood"), a military coup resulted in several republican figures being killed, including PLR prime minister António Granjo. On the night of blood, President António José de Almeida invested Manuel Maria Coelho as Prime Minister, but his government resigned on 3 November. On the same day, Carlos Maia Pinto became Prime Minister, but also resigned on 16 December. Francisco Cunha Leal then served as Prime Minister until the elections. The elections took place amidst instability and violence and were postponed four times before finally taking place on 29 January.

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Party		Seats	+/–
	Democratic Party	74	+20
	Republican Liberal Party	34	–45
	Reconstitution Party	17	+5
	Monarchist Cause	13	+9
	Portuguese Catholic Centre	5	+2
	Portuguese Socialist Party	0	–8
	Regionalist Party	2	0
	Other parties and independents	18	+9
Total		163	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Senate

Party		Seats	+/–
	Democratic Party	37	–21
	Republican Liberal Party	11	+15
	Reconstitution Party	10	+3
	Monarchist Cause	4	+4
	Portuguese Catholic Centre	1	–2
	Portuguese Socialist Party	0	0
	Regionalist Party	0	0
	Other parties and independents	7	0
Total		70	–1
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

Vote count in a Lisbon polling place

The Democratic Party failed to win an absolute majority of seats and Afonso Costa chose not to form government. Instead, António Maria da Silva of the Democratic Party became Prime Minister on 6 February, leading a minority government with the support of the Reconstitution Party, the Catholic Centre Party, the Regionalist Party and some independents. However, the government failed to serve a full term after being forced to resign following a motion of no confidence in November 1923. Further instability resulted in seven different governments holding office in the subsequent period until the 1925 elections.

External links

• Eleições de 1922