Chamber:
	Parliament
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	6 March 1998
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament following the premature dissolution of this body on 27 November 1997. General elections had previously been held in November 1995.
Background and outcome of elections:
	On 27 November 1997, President of the Republic Jean-Marie Leye dissolved Parliament after a no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Serge Vohor had been filed, and general elections were called for 20 January 1998. On 12 January, the Government declared a two-week state of emergency after rioting broke out in Port Vila, the capital. General elections were then postponed until March and the poll was ultimately held in an atmosphere of voter anger following reports of high-level political corruption. By the deadline of 10 February, 227 candidates (including 70 independents) had registered for the enlarged Parliament’s 52 seats (increased by two). Once again, the leading contestants were the ruling Union of Moderate Parties (UMP), led by Mr. Vohor, and the opposition Vanua’aku Pati (VP), headed by Mr. Donald Kalpokas. On polling day, the VP came out ahead with the UMP in second place just in front of the National United Party (NUP) led by former Prime Minister Walter Lini. On 30 March, Mr. Kalpokas, the new Prime Minister, formed a coalition Government that includes Mr. Lini as his deputy.

STATISTICS

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Vanua'aku Pati (VP)	18
Union of Moderate Parties (UMP)	12
National United Party (NUP)	11
Independents	11

Comments:
	Two seats added since last elections

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	52
Women:	0