The 1858 Chilean parliamentary election was held on 28 March 1858 to elect the Chamber of Deputies and seven of the 20 seats in the Senate. The governing National Party, which supported President Manuel Montt, retained a majority in Congress, while the opposition Liberal-Conservative Fusion secured 14 seats in the 72-member Chamber according to the historical reconstruction used by the Library of the National Congress of Chile.
The election took place after the division of the governing conservative movement in the wake of the Question of the Sacristan, a dispute between the government and the Catholic Church that contributed to the emergence of the National and Conservative parties. Liberals and the newly organized opposition Conservatives subsequently formed the Liberal-Conservative Fusion, an electoral alliance opposed to Montt's government.
Although the Fusion failed to dislodge the government through the election, the result intensified the political conflict surrounding Montt's administration. Opposition politicians challenged the government's influence over elections and its broader exercise of presidential authority. These tensions contributed to the 1859 Chilean civil war, in which liberal and conservative opponents of Montt attempted to overthrow the government.
Background
The election followed a major reorganization of Chilean political parties. The Question of the Sacristan in 1856 exposed divisions within the conservative political establishment over the relationship between the state and the Catholic Church. The faction that remained loyal to Montt and his minister Antonio Varas organized the National Party, while conservative opponents of the government organized the Conservative Party.
The Conservatives soon joined the Liberals in opposition to Montt. In early 1858, the two parties formed the Liberal-Conservative Fusion, the first major political coalition of the period. Its immediate purpose was electoral: the alliance sought to overcome the government's control of the electoral process and to reduce the powers exercised by the presidency.
The formation of the Fusion did not include all Liberals. A more radical faction rejected cooperation with the Conservatives and subsequently became an important component of the movement that developed into the Radical Party in the 1860s.
Electoral system
The election was held under the Constitution of 1833. The Chamber of Deputies was elected by direct vote and was renewed in its entirety every three years. The number of deputies was determined by population, with one deputy for every 20,000 inhabitants and an additional deputy for a fraction of at least 10,000.
The Senate consisted of 20 members serving nine-year terms. Senators were elected indirectly by special electors chosen in each department, with the number of senatorial electors set at three times the number of deputies assigned to the department. The Senate was renewed by thirds, with seven senators elected in the first renewal, six in the second, and seven in the third.
Suffrage was restricted by property and occupational qualifications and by literacy. The Constitution defined citizens with voting rights as Chilean men who met the age and literacy requirements and possessed qualifying property, capital, employment, income, or usufruct. Voters also had to be registered and hold a qualification certificate issued before the election.
The electoral law required elections for deputies and senatorial electors to be held on the last Sunday of March. The March 1858 election therefore followed the statutory electoral calendar established under the 1833 system.
Results
A total of 72 deputies were elected. The National Party retained the parliamentary majority, while the Liberal-Conservative opposition obtained 14 seats.
Political alignment |
Seats |
|---|---|
National Party |
58 |
Liberal-Conservative opposition |
14 |
Total |
72 |
The result represented a significant advance for the opposition compared with the political dominance exercised by the government in earlier elections. Among the opposition deputies elected were Ángel Custodio Gallo, Tomás Gallo, and Manuel Antonio Matta, prominent figures associated with the more radical wing of Chilean liberalism.
Seven of the 20 Senate seats were also renewed. Because senators were elected indirectly, voters in the parliamentary election first chose the special electors who would participate in the senatorial selection.
Aftermath
The opposition considered the result insufficient to force a change in the government's political direction. Contemporary and later historical accounts describe significant government influence over the electoral process, while the opposition challenged the legitimacy of the system and sought greater electoral freedom.
The election was followed by a rapid escalation of political conflict. In October 1858, the opposition newspaper La Asamblea Constituyente began publication under Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna and advocated constitutional reform. In December, the government prevented an opposition assembly in Santiago and imposed a state of siege in Santiago and Valparaíso, accompanied by the suppression of opposition publications.
The political crisis culminated in the revolution of 1859. Armed uprisings broke out in several parts of the country, with the opposition eventually forming a regular force in the northern mining region. The government defeated the rebellion, but the conflict further weakened the political system established under Montt and contributed to the realignment that preceded the 1861 parliamentary election.
The 1858 election also helped establish the political environment in which the Liberal-Conservative Fusion became the principal opposition coalition. The coalition later supported José Joaquín Pérez in the 1861 presidential election, contributing to the political transition that followed the end of Montt's presidency.