1882 presidential election

The 1882 presidential election was held in Brunant on 6 March 1882, on the same day as the 1882 general election. Both 1882 elections, which elected the president and the Congress members respectively, were the first democratically held elections in the country.

Background
The office of president was officially established in 1784 after James Carrington invaded the islands and made himself the first president of Brunant. The Constitution of 1802 stated that the president was appointed by the monarch. In 1852, the term of the presidency was limited to six years.

The Liberal Revolution of 1880-1881 was a series of revolts in Brunant against the increasing authoritarian rule of King Johan I. In early 1881, the king dissolved Congress. Eventually, his rebellious son, Crown Prince Pieter, organized a truce between the Koningstad royalists and republicans. In May of that year, Pieter deposed his father and was declared the new king. Apart from limited royal powers and newly-won rights, he instituted universal suffrage and announced that democratic elections would be held in March 1882.

Candidates
The two main political parties or fractions to participate in the 1882 elections were the White Party (conservatism) and the liberal fraction (liberalism). The liberals in Congress were united in a parliamentary political group, but the Liberal Party would only be formally established in 1883. The White Party itself was only formally founded in late 1881.

The White Party nominated Pieter Van Neyt, who had been president since 1876. Within the party, some liberal conservatives wanted to select a more liberal candidate since they were expected to lose from the many liberal voters after a series of political changes and liberalization. Some days after Van Neyt announced his intention to run for president, the liberals pushed forward Filip Van Buskirk, who already had been president for two consecutive terms from 1864-1876.

Both candidates received a lot of criticism, from both people from the countryside and English-language speakers. Many members of Congress, both conservatives and liberals, did not like the idea of candidates who had already served under the "old regime" and Johan I. In addition to Van Neyt and Van Buskirk, dozens of independent candidates participated, as well as members of small political groups such as communists, ultra-Catholic, royalists, republicans and some military candidates.

Results
Van Buskirk won the election with almost 60% of the registered votes. Since he had a majority of votes in the first round, no second round had to be organized.

Aftermath
Filip Van Buskirk began his third presidential term. He would eventually retire from national politics after his loss in the 1888 election against Joseph Greene.

Pieter Van Neyt became president again in 1891 after Green was forced to resign.