Conservative Party (Chile) - Opposition: 1851-1891

Opposition: 1851-1891

In the 1851 presidential election, the conservative candidate was Manuel Montt. He triumphed, but many conservatives were unhappy with him and accused him of anticlericalism. In 1851, the Conservative Party was officially formed by the anti-Montt pelucones. Although Montt won reelection in 1856, the Conservative Party defeated his National Party in the parliamentary elections of 1858.

The Conservative, National, and Liberal parties all agreed to support José Joaquín Pérez, a national, in the 1861 presidential election. In the parliamentary elections that year, however, the conservative lost control of Congress, finishing in third-place after the Nationals and Liberals.

Some conservatives refused to support Pérez for reelection in 1866, instead supporting the ailing Manuel Bulnes, who was defeated. The liberals won Congress in 1867. The Conservative and Liberal Parties then created the Liberal-Conservative Fusion, which brought Federico Errázuriz Zañartu to the presidency in 1871.

The alliance soon broke down, however. The liberals began employing electoral fraud in order to maintain their control over the government. There were no opposition candidates in the presidential elections of 1876, 1881 or 1886. Thanks to electoral fraud, liberals maintained complete control over Congress. In once instance liberal President Domingo Santa María even admitted fraud was occurring, stating that "I have been accused of electoral intervention. I have intervened. I belong to the old school and participate in electoral intervention because I want an efficient, disciplined Parliament. I cannot allow the legacy of Portales, Bulnes, Montt and Errázuriz to be destroyed."

As a result, the Conservative Party was unable to participate in government until 1891. That year, president José Manuel Balmaceda's fights with Congress had reached a climax and he decided to dissolve Congress. In response, Congress impeached Balmaceda. The Congressional forces, helped mainly by the Navy, set up an alternative government led by Jorge Montt in Iquique. After a series of Congressional victories, they reached Santiago and deposed Balmaceda, who fled to the Argentine embassy and committed suicide.