Spanish general election, 1898

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27 March–10 April 1898

1899 →

All 401 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate
201 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta	Francisco Silvela	Nicolás Salmerón
Party	Liberal	UC	FR
Leader since	1872	1892	1898
Leader's seat	Logroño	Piedrahita	Gràcia
Last election	99 seats	12 seats	4 seats
Seats won	272	82	18
Seat change	173	70	14

Prime Minister before election

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Liberal

Elected Prime Minister

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Liberal

The 1898 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 27 March and on Sunday, 10 April 1898, to elect the 8th Restoration Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain. All 401 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a constitutional monarchy, awarding the King power to name senators and to revoke laws, as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the army. The King would also play a key role in the system of the turno pacífico (English: Peaceful Turn) by appointing and toppling governments and allowing the opposition to take power. Under this system, the Conservative and Liberal parties alternated in power by means of election rigging, which they achieved through the encasillado, using the links between the Ministry of the Interior, the provincial civil governors, and the local bosses (caciques) to ensure victory and exclude minor parties from the power sharing.

The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameralism. Both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate had legislative, control and budgetary functions, sharing equal powers except for laws on contributions or public credit, where the Congress had preeminence. Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage, which comprised all national males over twenty-five, having at least a two-year residency in a municipality and in full enjoyment of their civil rights.

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Wikipedia