Chamber:
	Senado
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	8 November 1998
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all popularly-chosen Senators on the normal expiry of their term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The 1998 congressional elections were held simultaneously with those for state governors (23) and members of regional legislative assemblies (391). Polling for President of the Republic was scheduled for 6 December. During the campaign, the main contestants for the presidency - Mr. Hugo Chavez Frias (Fifth Republic Movement - MVR) and Mr. Henrique Salas Römer (Project Venezuela - PRVZL) - spoke out on economic issues, with the first reflecting widespread public anger with the country’s institutions and traditional political parties, seen as siphoning off the country’s wealth from oil production while living standards for the majority of citizens declined. Given the great dependence on oil, drops in its world prices made the economy particularly vulnerable. Mr. Chavez - an ex-military officer who had led an unsuccessful coup d’Etat against the government in February 1992 - espoused a populist platform and called for strong action against corruption while Mr. Salas was the clear favorite of the business community. They confronted the country’s major parties: Democratic Action (AD) and the Social Christian Party - COPEI. Polling day - monitored by foreign observers who included former US President Jimmy Carter - was marked by a higher voter turnout than usual. Final results gave the most Deputies seats to the Patriotic Front coalition (a grouping of 14 parties led by the MVR) while the social democratic AD topped all other groups in the Senate. With numerous groups gaining parliamentary representation, fragmentation and consequent realignment of alliances resulted. On 6 December, Mr. Chavez was elected President, succeeding Mr. Rafael Caldera Rodriguez who was constitutionally barred from running; he is due to take office on 2 February 1999.

STATISTICS

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	%
Democratic Action (AD)	24.40
Fifth Republic Movement (MVR)	19.75
Social Christian Party - COPEI	12.15
Movement towards Socialism (MAS)	9.12
National Convergence (CN)	2.35
Others	32.23

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Democratic Action (AD)	19
Fifth Republic Movement (MVR)	12
Social Christian Party - COPEI	7
Movement towards Socialism (MAS)	5
National Convergence (CN)	2
Others	3

Comments:
	Available data

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	52
Women:	5