April 27, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - A former broadcast journalist is the early frontrunner in El Salvador’s presidential race, according to a poll by LPG Datos published in La Prensa Gráfica. 33.6 per cent of respondents would back Mauricio Funes of the left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in next year’s ballot, while 24.7 per cent would vote for Rodrigo Ávila of the governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - A former broadcast journalist is the early frontrunner in El Salvador’s presidential race, according to a poll by LPG Datos published in La Prensa Gráfica. 33.6 per cent of respondents would back Mauricio Funes of the left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in next year’s ballot, while 24.7 per cent would vote for Rodrigo Ávila of the governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).

More than two-in-five respondents remain undecided, or would vote for other contenders.

Antonio Saca, a media businessman, was elected in March 2004 as the ARENA candidate, 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—a television journalist—became the FMLN’s presidential nominee. In March 2008, Ávila—a former National Police chief—won ARENA’s three-candidate internal nationwide primary.

On Apr. 12, as ARENA ratified him as its candidate, Ávila declared: "Today we will go full speed, for social peace, progress and equality with responsibility."

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?

	Apr. 2008	Feb. 2008
Mauricio Funes (FMLN)	33.6%	31.4%
Rodrigo Ávila (ARENA)	24.7%	24.9%
Other / Undecided	41.7%	43.7%

Source: LPG Datos / La Prensa Gráfica
Methodology: Interviews to 1,500 Salvadoran adults, conducted from Apr. 5 to Apr. 8, 2008. Margin of error is 2.6 per cent.