To know more about Nayib Bukele’s authoritarian measures, the threats they pose to democracy in El Salvador and the proposal from the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party, watch our interview with Víctor Suazo, candidate of the FMLN for the Legislative Assembly for San Salvador here. The overwhelming victory achieved by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele in last Sunday’s elections means that he will control an absolute majority in the Legislative Assembly and the majority of the country’s mayors’ offices. On February 9, 2020, Bukele occupied the country’s parliament alongside armed police and military to pressurize the opposition legislators to approve his request for a 109 million USD loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration to further arm the security forces. Anger with the parties that ruled El Salvador for nearly three decades swept Bukele into office in 2019, and frustration remains. Muyshondt has often taken the side of Nayib Bukele on matters involving public security and containment of the coronavirus. Progressive activists allege that over the last year, Bukele took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to intensify his authoritarian policies, which led to an increase in human rights violations and the breakdown of the rule of law in the country. This weekend some five million Salvadorans will head to the polls to elect a new president. Nayib Bukele after voting in El Salvador's Feb. 28 election Camilo Freedman/Bloomberg via Getty Images For much of Latin America, 2021 will be the year of vaccines and economic recovery. President Nayib Bukele holds his ballots as he prepares to vote in local and legislative elections, at a polling station in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. News, history, culture and analysis of El Salvador and the Salvadoran people. That could change Sunday when Salvadorans go to the polls in local and legislative elections that observers and surveys suggest could remake the country’s political landscape. In May 2020, thousands of people protested Bukele’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Elections for the Central American Parliament, the Legislative Assembly and municipal councils will take place in El Salvador on Feb. 28. These are elections which take place every three years, so the last round took place in 2018. In an opinion piece in the Washington Post, Salvadoran journalist Roberto Valencia wrote: Like it or not, Bukele has established himself as an overwhelming political phenomenon, with signs of indestructibility before the next legislative elections, in 2021. In Bukele's first 14 months in office, the Legislative Assembly and Supreme Judicial Court have often slowed or thwarted some of his initiatives. Suazo stressed that “El Salvador has a grave crisis with public finances, since the government has been violating a law of fiscal responsibility and we have had a high level of public debt, zero transparency and this has meant that institutions like the International Monetary Fund are talking and there are some agreements, that the government will seek to implement, after the elections on February 28, agreements that implicate a fiscal adjustment of 3 percentage points of the GDP and it is expected that there will be mass layoffs, cuts to social spending and an increase in indirect taxes such as the value-added tax that affects the poorest in the population. So let’s take a look at each country and their upcoming elections. Preliminary legislative results show the president’s party, Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas), winning the majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly. LET'S DO IT NUEVAS IDEAS ! 10:31 AM . In these elections, they have proposed an ambitious program to save the country from the deepening political, economic and institutional crisis. (CNS photo/Reuters/Jose Cabezas) FOR A NEW EL SALVADOR FULL OF PROSPERITIES. Mario Durán is part of Bukele's inner circle, and the president now seeks to have him hold the post of mayor of the capital city, a position held by Bukele from 2015-18. El Pais: Profile: Nayib Bukele and absolute power “The showman president of El Salvador is causing a furor in the central American country. El Salvador election could remake political landscape By MARCOS ALEMAN, Associated Press 2/25/2021 Miami Beach bistros bow to spring break curfew after weekend mayhem LIMA, Peru — Vicenta Escobar, 62, sells fruit from a stand on the streets in Peru’s capital, Lima. The 2021 elections on February 28 will see three new parties on the ballot. The government of El Salvador is a presidential representative democratic republic. On January 31, two members of the opposition left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party killed and five others were injured in an armed attack against the FMLN election caravan in the capital San Salvador. During Bukele’s nearly 2 years in office, the economic, political and social crises have also deepened in the Central American country. Nuevas Ideas, the party of president Nayib Bukele, is fielding candidates for mayor and legislative deputy throughout the country. He alleged that the amount was necessary to deal with the rampant gang violence and the deterioration of law and order situation in the country. Back in 2018, the country's popular president Nayib Bukele was not on any ballots, having just been expelled from the leftist FMLN and unable to run for reelection as mayor for San Salvador. (In evaluating any public opinion polls taken at this point in time, it is important to recognize the challenges of getting responses from a representative sample of voters during a time of pandemic, and with more than six months left before the election. His political party, Nuevas Ideas had not yet been created. Also looming over these elections is the ongoing shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. These upcoming elections are crucial for the strengthening of institutional democracy, which has suffered various setbacks under the rule of the increasingly authoritarian government of far-right President Nayib Bukele. AQ takes a closer look at the contenders in what could be a historic election. The forthcoming electoral process is also significant from the judicial point of view as later this year, the newly elected members of the legislative assembly will appoint five new Supreme Court justices and an attorney general. Nuevas Ideas is nominating for mayor Mario Durán, the current Minister of Governance within the government of Nayib Bukele. We spoke to Víctor Suazo, a candidate for the legislative assembly for San Salvador and a member of FMLN, about what is at stake in these elections. In a recent interview with Peoples Dispatch, Víctor Suazo, candidate of the FMLN for the Legislative Assembly for San Salvador, told us about the FMLN’s program to promote new legislations to protect democracy, fight authoritarianism, defend public institutions and promote social changes. It is not clear that the party will fare any better in legislative and municipal races. Recently, he was condemned for fostering a climate of hatred against opposition political parties. Feb 25, 2021 . Despite the pending charges, he will be a candidate for re-election. El Salvador Some of the higher profile names in this party of youthful politicians include Johnny Wright Sol, Aida Betancourt, Bertha María Deleón, and Hector Silva. The upcoming elections are crucial for the strengthening of democracy, which has suffered various setbacks under the rule of far-right President Nayib Bukele. So we have to be very alert to this in the new legislature of this situation.”. (Nuevas Ideas was not formed in time to participate in the 2019 presidential election; Bukele came into power as the nominee of the GANA party). As final results arrive from the February 28 elections, the contours of the next Legislative Assembly are coming into sharp relief: a party that embraces misogyny will govern El Salvador. SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - In the two years since President Nayib Bukele won a stunning victory over El Salvador’s established political parties, the … In Mexico’s 2021 midterm elections, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, will seek to translate his strong approval rating into congressional wins and more governorships for … Feb. 25, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. UTC. The crash of ARENA below its traditional level of 25-30% support in the past, when its chief opponent was the FMLN, is probably the most surprising result here. The rules for their voting, however, are not complete and are waiting on a decision by the country's Supreme Judicial Court. El Faro’s Nelson Rauda covers the Biden administration’s approach to El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala ahead of 2021 elections in two of those countries. If the virus is still widespread in the country, concern over contagion might depress turnout. A sizable majority of Salvadorans approve of the performance of Bukele's government. The results showed: No other party registered significant support. SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s New Ideas party dominated every aspect of this month’s national elections … ... As a candidate, ... El Salvador will hold legislative elections. The party is expected to have a very strong showing in its very first election outing. There is no doubt that Nayib Bukele sees the 2021 elections as crucial for consolidating his hold on power. IM VERY EXITED FOR THE FUTURE OF EL SALVADOR UNDER NUEVAS IDEAS AND THE BEST PRESIDENT EL SALVADOR HAS EVER HAD NAYIB BUKELE. People wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling station during the municipal and parliamentary elections in San Salvador, El Salvador, Feb. 28, 2021. Another new party is Nuestro Tiempo. The political landscape in 2018 was much different than today. The party willing to negotiate (or sell ) its votes to the majority party will have a power disproportionate to its size. A man casts his ballot at a polling station during the municipal and parliamentary elections in San Salvador, El Salvador, Feb. 28, 2021. If you wish to subscribe to the El Salvador Perspectives e-mail list and receive e-mail updates each time new material is added to this blog, enter your e-mail address below: I'm very exited for the new era of political candidates for the next legislators election in my country of origin EL SALVADOR!. Vamos was formed in time to have a candidate in the 2019 presidential election, but he garnered few votes. (Credit: Jose Cabezas/Reuters via CNS.) It will have been the last national election where the primary competitors are the FMLN on the left and ARENA on the right. The FMLN is nominating Rogelio Canales Chávez. Meet the Candidates: Chile February 16, 2021 On the municipal government level, the race for mayor of San Salvador could be very interesting. I hope for new politicians that will follow the advance of the way the new government in place is doing , that has done more in one year than the previous in 30. god bless EL SALVADOR. writes Sergio Arauz of El Faro. The court must rule on the constiutional grounds asserted by president Nayib Bukele when he vetoed a law passed to authorize such voting, and subsequently had his veto overridden. The question many ask in El Salvador today is not whether Nuevas Ideas will have the most seats in the Legislative Assembly following the election, but whether that party, along with its allies in GANA and CD will garner a super-majority (56 of 84) seats in the Assembly allowing Bukele to select the attorney general, put magistrates on the Supreme Court, borrow internationally, and suspend constitutional guarantees. Around the World in 8 Minutes: Protests erupt demanding justice for Daunte Wright in the US, Fresh ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland spoil peace on 23rd anniversary of Good Friday Agreement, With his sentences annulled, Lula says he may run in order to defeat Bolsonaro, Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), Legislative elections in El Salvador consolidate power of authoritarian president Nayib Bukele, Tunisia’s largest party calls for joint dialogue to resolve growing political crisis, El Salvador’s FMLN fought for democracy, now they defend it from authoritarian rule. I hope the new political party Nuevas Ideas puts the majority of candidates in the Salvadoran assembly , it's a new political party formed to bring a so long awaited change in El SALVADOR . In April 2020, he faced harsh criticism from national and international human rights organizations for using lethal force against imprisoned gang members and violating their rights amid the health emergency. However, the big story for four countries in Central America is likely to … Four Central American countries have elections of some sort or another in 2021. The third new party is Vamos. The party is probably best described as center-right in orientation. El Salvador has no voting by mail or electronically except for those living abroad, and otherwise all voting is in person. El Salvador Election Could Remake Political Landscape. President Nayib Bukele holds his ballots as he prepares to vote in local and legislative elections, at a polling station in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. Nuevas Ideas, the party of president Nayib Bukele, is fielding candidates for mayor and legislative deputy throughout the country. The 2021 elections on February 28 will see three new parties on the ballot. On February 28, 2021, Salvadorans will go to the polls to elect all members of the country's legislature, all mayors, and delegates to the Central American parliament. PCN and PDC -- are smaller right wing parties which ally with ARENA and together give the right the majority in the current legislature. In a series of protests, citizens denounced the lack of food and economic aid to poor and unemployed informal workers as well as the use of the army to enforce quarantine, the precarious condition of the quarantine centers, the arrests of people who allegedly broke lockdown, the shortage of personal protection equipment for doctors and other healthcare workers, the delay in the return of thousands of Salvadorans stranded abroad, among other issues. A sweeping victory could remove all of those counter-weights on a Nuevas Ideas government. In El Salvador has no voting by mail or electronically except for those abroad. Race for mayor of San Salvador, may break the … Feb. 25, 2021 at 1:00 UTC. 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