Parliamentary elections in El Salvador (2003)

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Parliamentary elections in El Salvador
2003
March 16
Voter turnout	39%

Parliamentary elections in El Salvador were held on March 16, 2003 , in which 84 deputies of the country's Legislative Assembly were elected for a 3-year term. At the same time, elections were held in the Central American Parliament and in the municipal councils.

The largest number of seats was won by the main opposition party, the Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation (FMLN), which won 31 seats ^[1] ^[2] . However, the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) again remained the ruling party, forming a coalition with the National Coalition Party ^[1] .

Content

Pre-election environment

ARENA controlled the politics of El Salvador, starting with a victory in the presidential election of 1989 ^[3] . The 2003 elections were the fifth since the end of the 1992 civil war . ^[4] .

Election Campaign

Eleven political parties participated in the elections, but the main struggle unfolded between the ruling party ARENA and the opposition FMLN ^[4] . The campaign of the Nationalist Republican Alliance focused on the continuation of the economic reform that the party carried out ^[4] , but its position was somewhat undermined by the doctors' strike that lasted for 6 months ^[3] . At the same time, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front was supported by those who believed that the reforms carried out by the ruling party did not benefit them ^[3] and criticized ARENA for high crime and slowing economic growth ^[4] .

Results

The consignment	Vote	%	Places	+/-
Front of National Liberation named after Farabundo Marty	475,043	34.0	31	0
Nationalist Republican Alliance	446 233	31.9	27	-2
National Coalition Party	181 167	13.0	sixteen	+3
Christian Democratic Party	101 841	7.3	five	-one
United Democratic Center	89,115	6.4	five	+2
Movement update	26 299	1.9	0	new
Republican People's Party	22,785	1.6	0	new
Popular action	15,906	1.1	0	new
Christian power	15 573	1.1	0	new
National Action Party	14,574	1.0	0	0
Social Democratic Party	10 203	0.7	0	new
Invalid / blank bulletins		-	-	-
Total	1,398,718	100	84	0
Source: Nohlen

Notes

↑ ¹ ² Former guerrillas score election advance, The Independent (March 18, 2003), p. 15.
↑ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I , p286 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
² ¹ ² ³ The Americas: Guerrillas out of the mist; El Salvador's election, The Economist (March 22, 2003), p. 58.
² ¹ ² ³ ⁴ El Salvador: parliamentary elections Asamblea legislativa, 2003 (Neopr.) . Inter-Parliamentary Union . The appeal date is May 31, 2009.

[guerillas-1] ¹ ² Former guerrillas score election advance, The Independent (March 18, 2003), p. 15.

[N1-2] Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I , p286 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6

[mist-3] ² ¹ ² ³ The Americas: Guerrillas out of the mist; El Salvador's election, The Economist (March 22, 2003), p. 58.

[legistiva-4] ² ¹ ² ³ ⁴ El Salvador: parliamentary elections Asamblea legislativa, 2003 (Neopr.) . Inter-Parliamentary Union . The appeal date is May 31, 2009.