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Salvadorans Smitten with President Funes
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes has grown immensely popular, according to a poll by CID-Gallup. 80 per cent of respondents approve of Funes, up 10 points since July.
El Salvador held a legislative election in January. Final results gave the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) 42.60 per cent of the vote and 35 seats in the Legislative Assembly, followed by the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) with 38.55 per cent and 32 seats. The National Conciliation Party (PCN), the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), and the Democratic Change (CD) party also elected members to the legislature.
A presidential election took place in March. The FMLN’s Funes won with 51.32 per cent of all cast ballots, defeating ARENA’s Rodrigo Ávila. ARENA had won four straight presidential elections in the Central American country. Incumbent president Antonio Saca was ineligible for a consecutive term in office. Funes was sworn in on Jun. 1.
On Oct. 8, Funes said he would consider allowing soldiers to help police fight crime, declaring, "We should try it, at least some form of it [integration]." The Salvadoran president added that, since the country is not currently facing any external threat, the government could find "a way to allow the Armed Forces to collaborate more with police in fighting delinquency."
Polling Data
Do you approve or disapprove of Mauricio Funes’s performance as president?
|
|
Sept. 2009 |
Jul. 2009 |
|
Approve |
80% |
70% |
|
Disapprove |
14% |
15% |
|
Not sure |
6% |
15% |
Source: CID-Gallup
Methodology: Interviews with 1,214 Salvadoran adults, conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 5, 2009. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.