Economy & Business - March 2012 (ISSN 1741-7430)

The legislative election on 11 March gave a boost to the rightwing Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Arena) which lost the presidency in 2009. It won 33 seats in the 84-seat assembly, a couple more than the ruling Frente Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN). Arena’s problem is that the boost was not enough to give it a majority. Indeed the FMLN can probably cobble together a majority with the support of Gana (which was created by defectors from the Arena) and the other three parties with seats in the assembly.