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OAS ELECTORAL OBSERVATION MISSION TO EL SALVADOR REPORTS ON “HISTORICAL” ELECTIONS AND EXPRESSED RECOMMENDATIONS

The Chief of the Organization of American States (OAS) Electoral Observation Mission to the presidential elections in El Salvador on March 15, Gustavo Fernández, highlighted the democratic spirit that prevailed at the event, which according to him had a “historical importance” for the Central American country.

“Leaving El Salvador I had the feeling that I had witnessed an important moment for the democratic History of the Continent, and I felt pride, Latin American pride,” said Fernández capping his verbal report to the Permanent Council of the OAS in Washington, DC.

On March 15, Mauricio Funes, candidate of the party Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), won the presidential elections with 1,354,000 votes, (51.32 per cent), as opposed to the 1,284,588 votes (48.68 per cent) obtained by the candidate of the party Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA), Rodrigo Ávila.

“Civil participation was just admirable. It was a massive, ordered, enthusiastic election, without any violence, that left an unequivocal message: the people of El Salvador want Democracy,” he said.

Fernández highlighted, as signs of democratic normalcy, that “despite the small difference of barely 2 percentage points, the results were accepted by all parties the same night they were announced.” Both candidates “underscored the principle of respecting the opponent”, and the outgoing President. Elías Antonio Saca, invited immediately the President-elect to join him at the upcoming Summit of SICA (Central American Integration System) and Summit of the Americas.

“That day, a greatly significant step forward was taken towards consolidating the democratic process that the people of El Salvador started 17 years ago, alter a long and very hard civil war,” Fernández said.

The Chief of Mission stressed that, during the electoral process, the Salvadorian authorities applied “in great part” the recommendations made by the OAS observers. However, he also highlighted that “some things must be corrected” to further improve the Salvadorian electoral system.

Fernández advised El Salvador to study changing in the “home vote” for a “resident vote”, after a test in the Department of Cuscatlán offered “widely favorable results”. He also suggested the census to be polished, the legislation about electoral propaganda, “because there is a lack of regulation about it and an asymmetric access to the media by the political parties.” He also recommended opening a debate about the composition of the Supreme Electoral Court.

The permanent representative of El Salvador to the OAS, Ambassador Francisco Lainez, praised the work of the EOM because “not only responded it adequately to the challenges faced, but also sought dialogue and understanding at all times.”

Besides transmitting the “satisfaction of the national authorities about the works of the Electoral Mission” in an election were “the Salvadorian people took to the streets to elect their leaders in an ethical, free and responsible way”, Ambassador Lainez acknowledged the support given by the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, to the Electoral Observation Mission.

Reference: E-108/09