El Salvador - Politics
El Salvador is a constitutional multiparty republic with a democratically elected government. In February 2019 voters elected Nayib Bukele as president for a five-year term. The election was generally free and fair, according to international observers. Free and fair municipal and legislative elections took place in 2018.
Significant human rights issues included: allegations of unlawful killings of suspected gang members and others by security forces; forced disappearances by military personnel; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; serious restrictions on free expression and the press; serious acts of government corruption; lack of consistent investigation and accountability for violence against women; and crimes involving violence by security forces against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex individuals.
Organized criminal elements, including local and transnational gangs and narcotics traffickers, were significant perpetrators of violent crimes. They committed killings and acts of extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking, intimidation, and other threats and violence. They directed these acts against police, judicial authorities, the business community, journalists, women, and members of vulnerable populations.
Since President Nayib Bukele came into office, he had attacked the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which he accused of "obstructing his efforts to govern." On Feb. 9, 2020, he stormed into its headquarters with soldiers to put pressure on lawmakers to pass a law. The incident was cataloged by lawmakers as "a violation of the Constitution and an attempted parliamentary coup." Violence and accusations of possible fraud promoted by Bukele also marked the electoral campaign scenario in El Salvador.
Despite Bukele’s behavior, polls showed that the ruling New Ideas Party leads in voting intentions for the National Assembly, which is composed of 84 members. The rest of the political movements, including the opposition right-wing Republican Nationalist Alliance (ARENA) and the FMLN, are behind it by over 60 points. If 'New Ideas' reaches the majority in Parliament, Bukele would strengthen his power amid criticism of leading an authoritarian administration. Bukele formed New Ideas after winning the 2019 presidential elections to "end the bipartisanship of ARENA and FMLN," even though he was formerly a member of the leftist party.
Elections to the Legislative Assembly, Central American Parliament (Parlacen), and municipal councils were held on February 28, 2021. More than 5.3 million Salvadorans were eligible to vote in the election. Ten political parties and two non-party candidates competed for 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly, 20 seats in the Central American Parliament, and 262 municipal councils. The high level of citizen participation, despite the circumstances of the pandemic, exceeded the numbers recorded in previous processes of this kind.
The run-up to the election was characterized by a climate of confrontation and polarization that went beyond the usual rivalry of a political contest. There were verbal attacks between various party and institutional figures and incidents in which aggressiveness led to physical violence. In particular, this included the death of two supporters of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) on January 31, during a campaign caravan in San Salvador amid a confrontation with agents of the Bukele administration.
In parallel to these conflicts, there were questions and accusations directed at the electoral authority; in particular, these focused on the first use of the technology for counting and transmitting results, for which the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) did not accept a prior external audit. There was consternation by some of the TSE’s judges, who said they had been threatened in connection with their duties. Members of departmental and municipal Temporary Electoral Organs (OETs) also reported threats. There were instances in which electoral personnel at the central and local levels were surrounded or detained. In addition, there were complaints from leaders claiming that some of the TSE’s judges were not impartial in their public statements.
There were numerous complaints about unfairness in the election, particularly regarding the politicized use of public resources and government propaganda. This inequity was aggravated by the non-payment of the advance on the political debt that the parties are required by law to receive. In the run-up to Election Day, and after the period of electoral purdah provided for in law had begun, there were numerous instances of electoral campaigning by the main political forces. Similarly, official advertising promoting the government’s administration was extensively carried by traditional media, including the state channel.
On the eve of Election Day, representatives of New Ideas and Democratic Change voiced public complaints about the delay in handing out credentials for members of the polling stations (Juntas Receptoras de Votos - JRVs). In the early hours of the morning, the TSE Secretariat issued a communiqué1 instructing the Departmental Electoral Boards (JEDs), Municipal Electoral Boards (JEMs), and heads of polling stations to ensure compliance with Article 191.c of the Electoral Code and to guarantee that the JRVs would be set up with the structure of positions published by the TSE, in the event that the corresponding credentials were absent. This was following strenuous complaints from the highest political levels.
At around 8 a.m., an hour later than scheduled, just over half (56.8%) of the polling centers had opened, according to the command center of the National Civilian Police (PNC). It was not until after 11:00 a.m. that the TSE announced that all 1,595 voting centers had opened. The start of Election Day was characterized by a very tense atmosphere, because of both the controversy surrounding the verification of credentials and because party representatives and journalists were denied access to polling stations. At several of the polling stations observed, people waited for more than two hours to cast their votes. This election revealed institutional weaknesses within the public authorities and, in particular, on the part of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The lack of professionalization in the electoral institutions explains many of the challenges encountered.
In the elections for Legislative Assembly deputies, Parlacen deputies, and municipal council members, in addition to party votes and preferential votes, crossover votes may be cast. The first method allows voters to select a party. The second allows voters to vote freely for the candidates on a list, disregarding the order of precedence established by the parties. The third allows voters to select candidates from different political parties and coalitions or non-party candidates, providing that the number of marks on their ballot papers does not exceed the number of seats up for election in the department in question. In addition, independent candidates can be selected.
El Salvador has a mixed system of political financing, with parties able to obtain resources from both public and private sources: through political debt, based on the vote received in the election, by way of electoral slots in state media, and from private contributions from individuals or corporate entities. An analysis of the current regulations indicates that there is no provision in law for public funding for the functioning of political organizations during non-electoral periods.
Various stakeholders agreed on the weak deterrent effect of the low fines provided for in the legislation, in addition to the difficulties faced by the electoral authority in acting in a timely manner to prevent, stop, and punish such infractions. This was evidenced by the main political forces’ non-compliance with the electoral purdah period and the executive branch’s failure to abide by the ban on government advertising, despite the TSE’s adoption of some precautionary measures.
The traditional parties Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) received a punishment vote due to their corruption scandals and the worsening of the living conditions of El Salvador's People. According to the electoral authority, this was the distribution of mayorships: ARENA 34 mayorships; FMLN 30; GANA 27; PCN 14; PDC 3; VAMOS 1; New Ideas 116. Obtained in coalitions: New Ideas-CD 23 mayorships; ARENA-PCN 1; New Ideas-GANA 9; New Ideas-CD-GANA 1; New Ideas-PCN 1. New Ideas-PCN-GANA 2. Meanwhile, the Legislative Assembly is formed by Nuevas Ideas 55 deputies; ARENA 14; PCN 2; VAMOS 1; GANA 6; PDC 1; FMLN 4; Our Time 1.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) confirmed 20 March 2021 the victory of President Nayib Bukele's party, New Ideas, in the legislative and municipal elections in El Salvador. With 100 percent of the ballots counted, the TSE confirmed New Ideas won 55 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 116 mayorships. After these results, Bukele controls almost 45 percent of the mayorships and has only one Assembly seat left to achieve a qualified majority which will be complemented by the 6 Assembly seats and 27 mayorships won by his ally GANA. Bukele achieved the sufficient majority to govern almost alone and pass laws and reforms without counting on the opposition.
Elected officials will take office on May 1 for a three-year term.
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