1957 Argentine Constitutional Assembly election

none Constituent Assembly elections were held in Argentina on 28 July 1957. Voters chose delegates to the assembly, and with a turnout of 90%. Background thumb|The Argentine military backed Aramburu's call for a constitutional assembly. Neither victors nor vanquished were to emerge from the Revolución Libertadora ("Liberating Revolution") that violently deposed Argentina's populist President Juan Perón in September 1955, and despite the pressure against it, General Eduardo Lonardi's catchphrase became government policy in October: he negotiated personally with Perón's chief supporters, the 2.5 million-member CGT labor union, and formed the Civilian Advisory Council.Todo Argentina: 1955 es Facing conservative opposition to his moderate approach to "de-perónization," as well as terminal illness, Lonardi lost his battle with both; replaced in November, he died the following March. His successor, General Pedro Aramburu, jailed 9,000 CGT leaders within days (banning them from politics) and enacted restrictions such as the ban of mentioning Peron's name. Instability and a coup attempt contributed to a rollback in this momentum, however, and in July, Aramburu announced elections for an "asamblea constituyente"("constituent assembly," as Argentines call constitutional conventions), to be convened for the purpose of restoring the Argentine Constitution of 1853 to its original text and meaning(as was amended in 1860, 1866, & 1897, respectively), which Perón had heavily amended to a more statist and populist charter, in 1949).Todo Argentina: 1956 es The announcement was not without controversy, however.Todo Argentina: 1957 es The centrist UCR, the dominant party following the Peronists' ban, was opposed to convening the assembly before the restoration of democracy (when the UCR would almost certainly be in power). One front runner, Arturo Frondizi, believed it to be Aramburu's attempt to forestall elections, and the more conservative Ricardo Balbín feared it could boost Argentina's myriad, smaller parties – potentially complicating the UCR's ability to govern.Potash, Robert. The Army and Politics in Argentina. Stanford University Press, 1996. Aramburu's more reactionary colleagues in the military favored a far slower timetable towards elections, but were reluctant to challenge him. The UCR's November 1956 convention in Tucumán was marked by acrimony over relationships with the military and with peronists, and it resulted in the party's division. Balbín continued to lead the party's mainstream (as the UCR-P), while the less anti-peronist faction formed the UCRI – led by Oscar Alende and Balbín's 1951 running mate, Arturo Frondizi. The two UCR factions competed not only with each other, but also with the many, smaller parties.El Litoral es One of the most prominent, the Socialist Party of Argentina, suffered from its own internal divisions. Américo Ghioldi led those who supported retribution for the harassment that had been inflicted on them during Perón's rule, while Alfredo Palacios opposed such action. The elections – the first since Perón's deposal – were narrowly "won" by blank votes: Voters cast about 2,116,000 of these, besting the UCR-P's total by 10,000 and resulting in one of the highest such incidences (25%) in Argentine electoral history.Nohlen, Dieter. Elections in the Americas. Oxford University Press, 2005. Ultimately, the narrowly divided convention in Santa Fe resulted in deadlock when the UCRI walked out over the imminent reinsertion of Perón's Constitutional Article 40 (which nationalized energy resources). His Article 15 – which included social guarantees – was approved, however, before the assembly was adjourned after two months, on November 14. Results People's Radical Civic Union 2106524 75 Intransigent Radical Civic Union 1847603 77 Socialist Party 525721 12 Christian Democratic Party 420606 9 Democratic Party 333749 7 Democratic Progressive Party 263805 5 Communist Party 228821 2 Federal Union 159177 1 gold Labour Party 93172 2 Independent Civic Party 86442 1 grey Conservative Party 76976 1 #30D5C8 Workers' Party 58965 1 #7693BA People's Party 50912 0 #7693BA Liberal Party of Corrientes 47862 2 Conservative People's Democratic Party–Autonomist Democratic Party 40269 2 Blockist Party of San Juan es Partido Bloquista de San Juan Blockist Radical Civic Union 30968 2 Conservative People's Democratic Party 25036 1 Liberal Democratic Party 24206 2 #005C9E Federal Labour Party 20254 1 #00708B Provincial Union 11265 1 #30D5C8 Conservative People's Democratic Party–Democratic Party 9689 1 Provincial Defense–White Flag es Defensa Provincial-Bandera Blanca 8928 0 grey Christian Democratic People's Union 8413 0 Federalist Radical Civic Union 8250 0 #FF7700 Autonomist Democratic Party – Provincial Committee 8195 0 Labour Gathering Party 7932 0 Republican Union 6829 0 National Labour Party 6511 0 #00708B Public Health Party 5783 0 green Intransigent Radical Civic Union – Radical Recovery Movement 5491 0 #E36552 Agrarian Social Party 5411 0 Nationalist Civic Union 4742 0 Radical Civic Union – Provincial Committee 3936 0 #E10019 Liberal Party of Misiones 2941 0 #35AAE0 Antipersonalist Party 2636 0 #641C34 Formosa Democratic Party 2401 0 #005C9E Agrarian Labour Party 975 0 #00708B 2115861 36066 9662620 ZalduendoZalduendo Eduardo Geografía electoral de la Argentina February 1958 Ediciones Áncora Buenos Aires 1ª 31-32 References Category:Elections in Argentina Constituent Argentina Category:Constituent assembly elections in South America