(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Mauricio Funes of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) is holding on to the top spot in El Salvador, according to a poll by Consulta Mitofsky released by TCS. 33.9 per cent of respondents would back Funes in next year’s presidential ballot.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Mauricio Funes of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) is holding on to the top spot in El Salvador, according to a poll by Consulta Mitofsky released by TCS. 33.9 per cent of respondents would back Funes in next year’s presidential ballot.
Rodrigo Ávila of the governing conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) is a close second with 29.5 per cent. Less than two per cent of respondents would vote for other candidates, and 35.2 per cent are undecided.
ARENA’s Antonio Saca, a media businessman, was elected in March 2004, garnering 57.73 per cent of the vote. ARENA candidates have won the last four presidential elections in the Central American country. Saca is ineligible for a consecutive term in office.
In September 2007, Funes became the FMLN’s presidential nominee. In March 2008, Ávila, a former National Police chief, won ARENA’s three-candidate internal nationwide primary.
The FMLN was once an umbrella armed group of left-wing revolutionaries fighting against the Salvadoran establishment. In the early 1990s, the FMLN was disbanded and became a legal political party.
On Oct. 26, Funes rejected assertions that he would have a more distant relationship with Washington than other recent Salvadoran heads of state, saying, "I will work hand in hand with the president of the United States who ends up being elected, because our ties are from government to government. (…) We definitely need to solve the situation of our undocumented compatriots in the U.S."
The next legislative election is scheduled for Jan. 18, 2009, with a presidential ballot following on Mar. 15.
Polling Data
Which of these candidates would you vote for in the next presidential election?
|
Oct. 2008 |
Jul. 2008 |
Jun. 2008 |
|
|
Mauricio Funes (FMLN) |
33.9% |
34.2% |
33.8% |
|
Rodrigo Ávila (ARENA) |
29.5% |
30.8% |
29.3% |
|
Other |
1.4% |
1.7% |
1.9% |
|
Not sure |
35.2% |
33.3% |
35.0% |
Source: Consulta Mitofsky / TCS
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,000 Salvadoran adults, conducted from Oct. 17 to Oct. 20, 2008. Margin of error is 3.2 per cent.
