Caribbean & Central America - May 2015 (ISSN 1741-4458)

More than two months after legislative elections were held on 1 March, and after deputies were meant to take up their seats in the 84-seat legislative assembly on 1 May, the supreme electoral tribunal (TSE) finally concluded the most protracted electoral process on record in El Salvador. Ironically, the final composition of the assembly for the next three years is almost identical to the previous three-year term, except that the one additional deputy won by the opposition bloc controlled by the right-wing Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Arena) means that it will be able to stymie legislative reforms pursued by the government of President Salvador Sánchez Cerén of the ruling left-wing Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN).

President Sánchez Cerén had expressed his concern about a “power vacuum” after only 60 deputies in the 84-seat legislative assembly were sworn-in on 1 May as ordained by the constitution. This after the constitutional chamber of the supreme court (CSJ) ordered the TSE to reopen the ballot boxes for the legislative elections in the department of San Salvador, which was responsible for supplying the missing 24 deputies, due to alleged irregularities.

Sánchez Cerén warned that the upshot of the recount could be “instability”, while the (FMLN) president of the legislative assembly, Sigfrido Reyes, muttered darkly of “a technical coup d’état” by the CSJ, which had suspended the swearing-in of the deputies until the recount was completed. This strong rhetoric had less to do with the recount itself (from which the FMLN could only have gained if the recount produced a slightly different result) and more to do with the constitutional chamber’s perceived cavalier approach to institutional matters in the eyes of the political parties which have made it clear in the past just how much they resent its interference in legislative issues. The introduction of cross-party voting, enforced by the CSJ, for instance, has been blamed by many politicians for the tardy count after these elections.

In the event, the 24 deputies elected in San Salvador were each able to take up their seats by 12 May with no changes resulting from the recount in terms of the deputies elected to office. There was, however, an increased vote count. This was a strange anomaly: as many as 21,000 votes declared void in the original count were found to be valid and added to the overall tally. Overall though the balance of power in the legislative assembly lies with Arena, complicating governance for Sánchez Cerén.

Perhaps serving notice of his determination to stand up to the new-look legislative assembly should it oppose his government’s initiatives, Sánchez Cerén on 8 May vetoed a decree approved on 9 April by the assembly. This decree would have established that the number of councillors represented on the 262 municipalities be proportional to the number of votes obtained (see sidebar). The vetoed decree had been approved by the legislative assembly with the votes of Arena deputies and the centre-right Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional (Gana).

The danger of opposing Arena – an inveterate rival with which the FMLN will need to reach compromises - and Gana - often an ally of the FMLN – is that they might make life difficult for Sánchez Cerén when it comes to issues which are going to be absolutely crucial for his government if it is to achieve anything. Foremost among these is public security, which has deteriorated sharply. Unless the government can reduce violence, and weaken organised crime, it will struggle to attract the investment which the country desperately needs to try and revitalise a stagnant economy (see next article).

• Municipal elections

The vetoed decree would have allowed councillors to be assigned proportionally after municipal elections. In El Salvador the party that wins municipal elections returns the mayor and a number of councillors greater than the proportion of votes obtained. Under the new decree, councillors would have been assigned in accordance with the percentage of the vote obtained by individual parties. This would have allowed minority parties greater municipal representation.