Polls & Research
Archive Search
FMLN Candidate Poised to Win in El Salvador
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Mauricio Funes, candidate for the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), is the clear frontrunner in the race for El Salvador’s presidency, according to a poll by Universidad Tecnológica (UTEC). 45.9 per cent of respondents would vote for Funes in the March ballot.
Rodrigo Ávila of the governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) is second with 28.6 per cent. Support is lower for Carlos Rivas of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and Tomás Chévez of the National Conciliation Party (PCN). One fifth 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. Funes is the first FMLN presidential candidate with no past as an armed guerrilla member.
Last month, Ávila said his party has changed its views on economic models, saying, "This is a different time. There is no room for the radical defence of neo-liberalism".
The next legislative election is scheduled for Jan. 18, with a presidential ballot following on Mar. 15.
Polling Data
Which of these candidates would you vote for in the next presidential election?
|
Mauricio Funes (FMLN) |
45.9% |
|
Rodrigo Ávila (ARENA) |
28.6% |
|
Carlos Rivas (PDC) |
3.0% |
|
Tomás Chévez (PCN) |
1.6% |
|
Other/Undecided |
20.9% |
Source: Universidad Tecnológica (UTEC)
Methodology: Interviews with 2,163 Salvadoran adults, conducted from Dec. 26 to Dec. 28, 2008. Margin of error is 2.4 per cent.