(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The early frontrunner in El Salvador’s presidential election has lost popularity, according to a poll by LPG Datos published in La Prensa Gráfica. 28.4 per cent of respondents would vote for Mauricio Funes of the left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in the 2009 ballot, down 5.2 points since April.

Rodrigo Ávila of the governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) is second with 22.1 per cent. Almost half of respondents remain 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 Jun. 26, Funes talked about his intention to bring his party to the centre of the political spectrum, saying, "El Salvador needs a democratic, realistic and responsible left."

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?

Source: LPG Datos / La Prensa Gráfica
Methodology: Interviews to 1,490 Salvadoran adults, conducted from Jun. 14 to Jun. 17, 2008. Margin of error is 2.6 per cent.

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