They were called after the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) lost a by-election to the new Freedom and Accord Party in Istanbul the month before, their candidate losing by a just 1 vote.

The CUP platform represented centralist tendencies, whilst Freedom and Accord promoted a more decentralised agenda, including supporting allowing education in local languages.

[2] Although the two main parties competing in the election, the CUP and Freedom and Accord, were largely secular in their political outlook, issues such as the Islamic religious piety of their candidates became sensationalised campaign topics.

Seeing the potent amount of political capital to be gained by appealing to religion, as the Muslim vote was the most important in the Empire, both parties consistently accused one another of various other supposed offenses against Islamic tradition.

[2] Freedom and Accord retorted by claiming that the CUP, in its previous attempt to amend the constitution, was covertly trying to "denounce" and abolish ritual fasting during the month of Ramadan and the five daily prayers.

The manner of the CUP's victory led to the formation of the Savior Officers, a group aligned with the Freedom and Accord Party, whose aim was to restore constitutional government.