(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Mauricio Funes of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) is the frontrunner in the race for El Salvador’s presidency, according to a poll by Universidad Centroamericana. 49.7 per cent of respondents would vote for Funes in next year’s ballot.

Rodrigo Ávila of the governing conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) is second with 34.2 per cent. 16.1 per cent of respondents remain undecided or would vote for other contenders.

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 Sept. 1, Tomás Chévez was anointed as the presidential candidate for the National Conciliation Party (PCN). Chévez is a pastor in the powerful ELIM Christian church. His bid is backed by the Foundation for the Union of Salvadoran Christian Churches (UNICSAL).

On Oct. 9, Funes dismissed critics who suggest that he would align his policies with those of left-wing Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez if elected, saying, "The fact that we have good relations with Venezuela doesn’t mean that we breathe through Venezuela’s nose or through Hugo Chávez’s nose."

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: Universidad Centroamericana
Methodology: Interviews to 1,257 Salvadoran adults, conducted from Sept. 13 to Sept. 22, 2008. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.

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