Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 2 February 2014, with a second round held on 9 March since no candidate won an outright majority. The primary candidates were Vice-President

Salvador Sánchez Cerén Salvador Sánchez Cerén (; born 18 June 1944) is a Salvadoran politician who served as the 42nd President of El Salvador between 1 June 2014 and 1 June 2019. He took office on 1 June 2014, after winning the 2014 presidential election as the c ...

of the FMLN, San Salvador Mayor

Norman Quijano Norman Noel Quijano González (born 2 November 1946) is a Salvadoran politician and former Mayor of San Salvador, under the Nationalist Republican Alliance ticket, serving from 1 May 2009 until his resignation on 15 August 2013 in order to ru ...

ARENA An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

, and Former President Antonio "Tony" Saca. Saca represented GANA, the

National Conciliation Party The National Coalition Party ( es, Partido de Concertación Nacional, PCN) is a nationalist political party in El Salvador. Until 2011 it was known as the National Conciliation Party ( es, Partido de Conciliación Nacional, PCN). It was the most ...

, and the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

in the UNIDAD coalition. Incumbent President Mauricio Funes was ineligible to run for a consecutive second term. Sánchez Cerén and Quijano emerged as the contestants in the runoff held on 9 March in which Sánchez Cerén was declared the victor.

Background

On 22 October 2012, the Supreme Electoral Tribune increased the total number of voting centers and assigned eligible voters to the voting center closest to their address. Previously, eligible voters were assigned to municipal voting centers alphabetically, forcing some to travel longer distances to vote. The 2014 presidential election will be the first election to follow such rules. On 24 January 2013, the Legislative Assembly passed legislation to allow Salvadorans living abroad to vote in all future elections. 92% of Salvadorans living abroad are based in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. According to the Supreme Electoral Tribune, there are 200,000 Salvadorans living internationally who are eligible to vote. The FMLN's presidential candidate Salvador Sanchez Cerén visited

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

to meet with

Salvadoran Americans Salvadoran Americans ( or ) are Americans of full or partial Salvadoran descent. As of 2010, there are 2,195,477 Salvadoran Americans in the United States, the fourth-largest Hispanic community by nation of ancestry.two-year-old truce between the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs that has halved the murder rate. Likewise, the

2012 Salvadoran legislative and local elections Legislative and local elections were held in El Salvador on 11 March 2012 to choose 84 members of the legislative assembly and 262 mayors. The election was carried out by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The opposition Nationalist Republican ...

resulted in a strong showing for the opposition ARENA party due to the rising crime rates.

Candidates

The FMLN fielded former rebel during the civil war,

as the party's candidate.

fielded

as its candidate.

UNITY Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; ...

fielded former president Antonio Saca with an announcement in February 2013 that had the backing of the Christian Democratic Party, and the National Conciliation Party.

Legal recourse

On 31 July 2013, a professor from the

National University of El Salvador The University of El Salvador or Universidad de El Salvador (UES) is the oldest and the most prominent university institution in El Salvador. It serves as the national university of the country. The main campus, Ciudad Universitaria, is located ...

presented an argument to the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of a former president's candidacy. The legal language regarding second terms is unclear as the constitution prohibits two consecutive terms, but has been described as "murky" on plural non-consecutive terms. Saca claimed that this was an attempt for the FMLN and ARENA to exclude him from the presidential election. On 6 September, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court ruled that only party flags, not candidates faces, will appear on the ballot in the presidential election. Saca, as a former president, was widely recognized by Salvadorans, but his Unity coalition was not. He provided polling evidence to back his claim. Due to the court ruling, Unity proposed putting Saca's face on their party flag.

Campaign

Quijano said that he would deploy the army to fight street gangs amidst elevated

crime in El Salvador There are an estimated 25,000 gang members at large in El Salvador; another 43,500 are in prison.Guillermoprieto, Alma"In the New Gangland of El Salvador,"''The New York Review of Books'', 10 November 2011. The best-known gangs, called '' maras'' ...

. Sanchez Ceren, on the other hand, said he would forge a political pact in order to pass reforms through a divided Congress that would tackle crime and anemic economic growth. He further said that he would tackle tax evasion and loopholes while also introducing tax incentives for investment in such industries as energy, renovating San Salvador's

Comalapa International Airport El Salvador International Airport Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional de El Salvador San Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez), , previously known as Comalapa International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional d ...

and improve port facilities. He also said that he would seek to join Petrocaribe.

FMLN

Sánchez Cerén and Ortíz have stated that the "three pillars" of their program is employment, security, and education. In developing this program, the candidates received proposals from representatives of various sectors of society. They have argued that to achieve higher levels of employment these requires expanding public-private partnerships, sponsoring a public development bank, and promoting important industries. In regards to education, the candidates have promised more free food for children in school, a policy of "one child, one computer," and bilingual education. Sánchez Cerén has announced plans for the nation's first "digital university" and increased transportation funding around universities. To address the problems of crime and security, the candidates have proposed increasing funding for new police technologies, promoting campaigns against drug abuse, creating education rehabilitation centers for those convicted of minor offenses and drug crimes, and training community peace officers. Sánchez Cerén was invited as a closing speaker to the FMLN's "Winter Cultural Dialogues," in which he expressed solidarity with the

Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kin ...

. He expressed a desire for an alternative development models, such as the types seen in nations with left-wing governments in South America. The notion of "buen vivir," or "living well," was prominent in his political discussion. He said, "Living Well is a current of ideas, of values, of social proposals and policies that runs through Latin America, that tells us it is possible to live in a society governed by equality and fraternity." He stated he would have the nation join Petrocaribe, a multi-national oil alliance that purchases oil from Venezuela, which would allow the nation to buy oil at 60% its current costs, thus freeing up to $640 million to fund social investments proposals. Sánchez Cerén has proposed the creation of a Ministry of Women. He has stated a plan for more maternity hospitals, domestic violence shelters, and expanding the Centros Ciudad Mujer, translated as "City of Women Centers," which provides services and healthcare to women.

ARENA

Quijano has primarily focused on reforming the economy for higher employment and stronger economic growth. He proposes to encourage the financing of small businesses and to help them make stronger returns. He wants legal reforms in the labor market to provide more mobility and flexibility for youth. Also, he has promoted laws for equal pay for women. He desires to see the government invest through public-private partnerships in building ports, airports, irrigation systems, railways, and highways to encourage intranational and international. He has proposed reforming the Ministry of Agriculture to provide more funding to farmers, help establish new farming technologies, facilitating the marketing of their products on the global market, and create a "true agro-export industry.

UNITY

On 14 October, UNITY presidential candidate Antonio Saca selected former ARENA politician Francisco “Pancho” Laínez, who defected from ARENA in March. He served as Minister of Foreign Relations under President Saca. Saca praised Laínez's record in foreign political and economic relations. Saca announced that as president he would intend to cut "red tape" for international investment through cutting cumbersome paperwork. He has stated that his policies will create employment for young people in the private sector. He has proposed continuing social investments in healthcare begun under the FMLN, such as the Centros Ciudad Mujer. He states his administration will support Salvadorans abroad and will fight for

immigration reform in the United States Reforming the current immigration policy of the United States is a subject of political discourse. Immigration has played an essential part in American history. Some feel that the United States maintains the world's most liberal immigration poli ...

. Part of his platform includes developing a Vice Ministry of Livestock within the Ministry of Agriculture, aiming to support the dairy and livestock industries. He has promoted a program called "Semilla Mejorada," or "Improved Seed", which would decrease regulations regarding pesticides, insecticides, and would finance the introduction of newer agricultural equipment. Also, he had discussed founding a "land bank" to provide credit to farmers.http://tonysaca.sv Despite his efforts to go back to power, on 2 February the candidate came third with only 11.4% of the votes and was not able to continue the presidential race on the second round.

Debates

On 12 January, Quijano, Sánchez Cerén, Saca, Óscar Lemus of the Salvadoran Patriot Fraternity and René Rodriguez Hurtado of the Salvadoran Progressive Party had their first debate ahead of the presidential election. The debate was moderated by Mexican journalist Armando Guzmán of ''

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

''. Observers were critical of the debate. Roberto Rubio of El Salvador’s National Foundation for Development said: “It wasn’t really a debate. In a debate, there’s confrontation between ideas, and argument against argument." President Mauricio Funes even described the debate as "more of the same."

Opinion polls

First round

Second round

Other scenarios

The following polls display run-off scenarios that include Antonio Saca, who did not qualify for the second round.

Quijano vs. Saca

Sánchez Cerén vs. Saca

Conduct

ARENA and FMLN supporters briefly scuffled on voting day. Security was tightened on the day as about 4.9 million voters were eligible to cast their ballots. Sanchez Ceren said that he was "open to the participation of different sectors" and would seek to reach out to others to create "a grand national accord;" Quijano, who voted at a centre set-up at a school in western San Salvador, praising the "peaceful elections;" and Saca said that he was "optimistic" while voting. In the early hours of the day, supporters of each party set up stands with their party's colours across San Salvador and helped voters find their polling centres.

Results

By department

First round

Second round

Reactions

After voting ended in the first round, Sanchez Ceren said: "We won the first round ... we are sure that in the second round we will win by more than 10 points. We are going to work in the coming days to further unite," he added. "We are going to build new understandings, new alliances" and "more than ever we need a new national accord, so that we do not have partisan policies but policies that are backed by all the people of El Salvador." He also attended a mass earlier on the day at the chapel where Archbishop

Óscar Romero Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (15 August 1917 – 24 March 1980) was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, the Titular Bishop of Tambeae, as Bishop of Santiago ...

was assassinated prior to the

Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front The Farabundo Ma ...

. Universidad Centroamericana estimated that Saca's supporters were likely to vote for Quijano in the run-off, but about 25 percent would support Sanchez Ceren and thus enable him to win the presidency.

References

{{Salvadoran elections Salvadoran presidential election

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Salvadoran presidential election Salvadoran presidential election