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Left-Leaning Candidate Leads in El Salvador
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The presidential candidate of the left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) is favoured by many Salvadorans, according to a poll by Borge & Asociados published in El Diario de Hoy. 37.5 per cent of respondents would vote for Mauricio Funes in next year’s ballot, up 10.8 points since April.
Rodrigo Ávila of the governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) is behind with 23.2 per cent, up 3.5 points in two months. More than a third of respondents remain undecided, or will 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.
Saca recently discussed his views on the FMLN, saying, "If it flies like a duck, swims like a duck, and eats like a duck, it’s a duck. The FMLN is a communist party."
The next legislative election is scheduled for Jan. 18, 2009, with a presidential ballot following on Mar. 15.
Polling Data
Which candidate would you vote for in the next presidential election?
|
Jun. 2008 |
Apr. 2008 |
|
|
Mauricio Funes (FMLN) |
37.5% |
26.8% |
|
Rodrigo Ávila (ARENA) |
23.2% |
19.7% |
|
Other candidates |
0.8% |
-- |
|
Wilfredo Salgado (PCN) |
-- |
0.7% |
|
Other / Undecided |
38.5% |
51.5% |
Source: Borge & Asociados / El Diario de Hoy
Methodology: Interviews with 1,000 Salvadoran adults, conducted from Jun. 16 to Jun. 23, 2008. Margin of error is 3.2 per cent.