(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Former broadcast journalist Mauricio Funes is the early frontrunner in El Salvador’s presidential race, according to a poll by CID-Gallup. 44 per cent of respondents would back Funes of the opposition, left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in next year’s ballot, while 23 per cent would back Rodrigo Ávila of the governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).

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 November 2007, Saca announced that ARENA would choose its next presidential nominee by holding a three-candidate internal nationwide primary in March 2008.

On Mar. 15, Ávila—a former National Police chief—won ARENA’s primary and became the party’s official presidential candidate. Two days later, Ávila commented on his priorities for the party, saying, "I want a more inclusive right; I’m talking about a more just country, about progress, about equality with freedom and responsibility, about sharing prosperity. It is time ARENA takes those steps without any fear."

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: CID-Gallup
Methodology: Interviews with 1,207 Salvadoran adults, conducted from Mar. 3 to Mar. 10, 2008. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.

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