EL SALVADOR: POLITICS - Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front candidate Salvador Sanchez Ceren and Arena candidate Norman Quijano vote in El Salvador's presidential run-off

Record ID: 328073

  • Title: EL SALVADOR: POLITICS - Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front candidate Salvador Sanchez Ceren and Arena candidate Norman Quijano vote in El Salvador's presidential run-off
  • Date: 9th March 2014
  • Summary: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR (MARCH 9, 2014) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** SUPPORTERS OF FARABUNDO MARTI NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT (FMLN) DANCING MAN PLAYING A DRUM VARIOUS OF FMLN SUPPORTERS DANCING
  • Embargoed: 24th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: El Salvador
  • Country: El Salvador
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1SYGNPW84ORKR28NORBTN6O66
  • Story Text: Both candidates vying for El Salvador's presidency cast their ballot in the presidential run-off on Sunday (March 9).
    Recent polls showed Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), the rebel group in the country's 1980-92 civil war, with about 55 percent support heading into the second round run-off vote on Sunday.
    One of the wartime leaders of the FMLN, Sanchez Ceren faces conservative rival Norman Quijano, the former mayor of the capital, San Salvador, who trailed in polls with about 45 percent support as voting got underway.
    Sanchez Ceren cast his ballot and sounded optimistic.

    "At night, what we are going to be celebrating is the mandate of the Salvadorean people. And the Salvadorean people want happiness. The Salvadorean people want hope. For that reason, we are going to build a great national understanding with all political forces," he said.
    Quijano voted later, also expressing confidence.

    "What we are demanding from the Electoral Supreme Court, at least until the end of this process, is to have a totally impartial attitude because it has not been impartial. So we are calling for it to fulfill its task, which is to guarantee that the process develops normally. For us, we can say that we are seeing that the people are coming out to vote and that this is what guarantees us victory," he said.
    A victory for Sanchez Ceren would give the FMLN a second consecutive term and the affable, media-shy 69-year-old has vowed to build on its social programs, which include a glass of milk a day for children and free school uniforms, shoes and supplies.
    The FMLN has gained ground in the last decade, winning mayorships across the country in areas that were once bastions of El Salvador's right.
    It took the presidency in 2009 when Mauricio Funes, a prominent journalist who had no role in the war, ran as its candidate.
    In the first round of voting last month, Sanchez Ceren won 49 percent of votes, just shy of the margin needed for victory.
    Quijano, the candidate of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena) party, had 39 percent support.
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