Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.21857/ypn4oc1nq9
Controversy over the election of Brač candidates for the Dalmatian Parliament in the district of the outside municipalities of Brač, Hvar and Vis in 1901
Jure Trutanić
orcid.org/0000-0002-2582-3746
; Faculty of Croatian Studies Department of History, University of Zagreb Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Tis paper deals with the Dalmatian Parliament elections held in 1901and the political atmosphere in which they were held, dealing primarilywith the controversies arising from the elections in the district of the outsidemunicipalities of Brač, Hvar and Vis. Apart from the contribution to betterunderstand the curial electoral system and the electoral process in general in theprovince of Dalmatia, this research contributes to the knowledge of bottom-up policy-making, depicted in specific local circumstances in light of political-ideological stratification between populists and right-wingers and the growth ofthe Party-of -Right in the province. In the regular elections for the DalmatianParliament in the outside municipalities of Brač, Hvar and Vis held on December10 1901, the members of the Popular Party Juraj Carić and Ante Radić wereelected. Te candidates of the Party-of-Right, Ivo Bojanić and Tomo DidolićJr., failed, even though the Party-of-Right represented a significant politicalfactor in the district. Te unexpected but successfully declared candidacy ofthe mayor of Bol, Ante Radić, caused numerous controversies because his right-wing brother’s, teacher Fran Radić’s, landslide victory was certain until the veryend. Te attempt to become a member of the parliament of Tomo Didolić Jr. incooperation with pure right-wingers was also controversial. Tese developmentsintroduced a month-long war with open letters, brochures and letters, which thepublic followed with interest. Dalmatian and trans-Velebit newspapers and thepreserved archival material scattered in various archival holdings can reconstructthe sequence of developments which indicates that the populists led by NikoDuboković in this district had no intention to agree with the right-wingers. Asthey were politically powerful in the area, this provoked a concrete response fromthe other side, which decided to cooperate with the pure right-wingers. Giventhe crucial importance of the ballots of Bol’s elected candidates led by MayorAnte Radić, we can conclude that in the context of a narrow margin between therightists and the populists, he made good use of this political capital to enablethe populists to get both mandates in this district, one of which was his.
Keywords
Dalmatian Parliament elections; Party-of-Right in Dalmatia; Brač; Hvar; Ante Radić; Niko Duboković; Tomo Didolić Jr.; Frano Radić
Hrčak ID:
268212
URI
Publication date:
23.12.2021.
Visits: 1.660 *