1937 Romanian general election

1937 Romanian general election

← 1933 20 December 1937 (1937-12-20) 1939 →

All 387 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
All 113 seats in the Senate
Turnout66.07%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Dinu Brătianu Iuliu Maniu
Party PNL PNȚ
Leader since 1934 1937
Last election 105 S / 300 D 0 S / 29 D
Seats won 97 S / 152 D 10 S / 86 D
Seat change Decrease 8 S / Decrease 148 D Increase 10 S / Increase 57 D
Popular vote 1,103,353 D 626,612 D
Percentage 36.46% D 20.71% D

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu Octavian Goga
Party TpȚ PNC
Leader since 1933 1935
Last election 0 S / 18 D
Seats won 4 S / 66 D 0 S / 39 D
Seat change New Steady 0 S / Increase 21 D
Popular vote 478,378 D 281,167 D
Percentage 15.81% D 9.29% D

Prime Minister before election

Gheorghe Tătărescu
PNL

Elected Prime Minister

Octavian Goga
PNC

General elections were held in Romania in December 1937.[1] The Chamber of Deputies was elected on 20 December, whilst the Senate was elected in three stages on 22, 28 and 30 December.[1] Voting was by universal male vote,[2] making them the last elections held before female suffrage was introduced.

The National Liberal Party remained the largest party, winning 152 of the 387 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 97 of the 112 the Senate seats. However, unlike all previous elections organised by partisan governments, the results did not give the governing party a majority. The National Liberals' unexpectedly poor showing prevented it from creating a government on its own (obtaining 40% of the vote would have automatically awarded them a large parliamentary majority). They ruled out a coalition with their arch-rivals, the second-placed National Peasants' Party, or with the third-placed Iron Guard's Everything for the Country Party. King Carol II invited the fascist Octavian Goga to form a government, though his National Christian Party finished fourth and had an avowedly anti-Semitic platform. Goga's government was formed on 29 December 1937.[3]

Results of the 1937 general elections at county level
  1. ^ a b Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1591 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p1610-1611
  3. ^ Brustein, William (2010). Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe Before the Holocaust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-52177-478-9.