Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 6 December 1998. The main candidates were Hugo Chávez, a career military officer who led a 1992 coup d'état against President Carlos Andrés Pérez; and former Carabobo Governor Henrique Salas Römer. Both candidates represented newly formed parties, a first in a country where the main candidates always represented the parties of the bipartisanship. Chávez represented the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), while Salas Römer represented Project Venezuela. Initially weak in the polls, Chávez ran on an anti-corruption and anti-poverty platform, condemning the two major parties that had dominated Venezuelan politics since 1958; and he began to gain ground in the polls after the previous front runners faded. Despite the fact that the major parties (Copei and Democratic Action) endorsed Salas Römer, Chávez was elected into his first term as President of Venezuela.
The election resulted in a political realignment which brought about the end of the bipartisanship that had dominated the political atmosphere of the country in the last 40 years, and began the dominance of the MVR party (later merged into the United Socialist Party of Venezuela) under the Bolivarian Revolution system that still holds political power in Venezuela as of .
Background
In the early 1990s the Venezuelan government's economic strength and political legitimacy was declining, with two coup attempts in 1992 and the impeachment for corruption of President Carlos Andrés Pérez. The result was a turn against the traditional Puntofijo Pact parties (Democratic Action and Copei) in the 1993 elections: Rafael Caldera's victory in 1993 was the first time in Venezuela's democratic history that a president had been elected without the support of either of the two major parties. In 1995 real wages were below the levels attained in 1950, and between 1995 and 1998 they had declined by four percent per year. The percentage of households below the poverty line had risen from 20% in 1980/81 to 56% in the 1998–2000 period. In 1998 40% of the population under age 17 was suffering from malnutrition, and 76% lived in poverty. According to 1998 CENDA data, 85% of households lived in poverty, including 45% in extreme poverty. For decades protests, shortages, and mismanagement had been occurring more frequently, highlighting the progressive economic deterioration of the country.
Chávez's participation
After his 1994 release from prison, Chávez maintained a position against participation in elections, believing them a fixed game which merely legitimated the established order. Shortly after his release, Chávez considered another coup attempt, but with the prospects appearing slim, some advisers, notably Luis Miquilena, urged him to reconsider his scepticism of the elections, arguing that Chávez could potentially win so convincingly that the establishment would not be able to deny him victory. and mayor of the Caracas district of Chacao, reached almost 70% as an independent candidate. However, despite spending millions of dollars on publicity, she fell below 15% within six months, as the public became increasingly skeptical of her readiness for the presidency, and as she lost credibility as an anti-establishment candidate after accepting the endorsement of COPEI.
During 1998, it became increasingly clear that the campaign was a race between Salas Römer and Chávez. Salas Römer, the governor of Carabobo and leader of the Project Venezuela party, appeared a credible candidate as Sáez lost ground Chávez registered 30% in polls taken in May 1998; by August he was registering 39%.
The Chávez platform comprised three basic pledges. First to begin his presidency by abolishing Venezuela's old puntofijismo political system of two-party patronage, and opening up political power to independent and third parties. Second, to end corruption. Third, to eradicate poverty in Venezuela. In working to gain the trust of voters, Chávez drafted an agenda that drew heavily on his interpretation of Bolivarianism. Chávez also utilized his charisma and flamboyant public speaking style—noted for its abundance of colloquialisms and ribald manner—on the campaign trail to help win the trust and favor of a primarily poor and working class following. On one occasion, he threatened to "fry" the heads of his opponents.
The two traditional main parties hoped that 8 November parliamentary and regional elections would give them a boost, a month ahead of 8 December presidential elections, but the poll remained a two-person race.