EL SALVADOR
— Officially: República de El Salvador.
— Seat of government: San Salvador.
— Status: Democratic.
— Structure: The president is elected directly. The legislature (Asamblea Legislativa) is elected in the departamentos (with each departamento a single constituency and number of members proportionate to population), modified by party-list proportional representation.
— Governing parties: Chiefly Nuevas Ideas, with Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional, Partido de Concertación Nacional, and Partido Demócrata Cristiano.
— Head of government: Nayib Bukele Ortez, NI, president (since 2019).
— Legislative opposition parties: Alianza Republicana Nacionalista; Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional; Nuestro Tiempo; Vamos.
— Assessment: The conservative AReNa is the product of the former military régime, while the leftist FMLN was the armed opposition to it. Under the last AReNa president, Tony Saca González (2004-9), the leftist FMLN dominated local politics and was the largest party in the legislature. Legislative elections in 2009 saw FMLN take a plurality, but not a majority; a presidential election soon after saw Mauricio Funes (2009-14) of the FMLN win a narrow victory as well, the first loss by AReNa since the civil war ended in 1991. In 2012 legislative elections, AReNa won a plurality, but FMLN and its (conservative) ally GAUN won a slight majority. The 2014 election for the presidency was also won by the FMLN, Salvador Sánchez Cerén (2014-9). In the 2015 legislative election, AReNa again won a plurality; FMLN and GAUN retained exactly half of all seats. The 2018 legislative election saw AReNa win the same plurality and FMLN lose numerous seats, primarily to splinters of itself. In 2019, Bukele won an absolute majority against candidates for both AReNa and FMLN, as well as Vamos. His new party then also won a landslide majority in the 2021 legislative elections.
— FH: 2-3, free. Econ: 6.40 (67), flawed democracy.
— Updated: 2021 June 17.
O.T. FORD