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North & Central America and Caribbean
El Salvador |
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Last reviewed: 08 June 2009 |
Country information
Politics
El Salvador is a democratic republic governed by a President and an 84-member unicameral Legislative Assembly. The President is elected by universal suffrage and serves for a 5-year term by absolute majority vote. A second round run-off is required in the event that no candidate receives more than 50% of the first round vote. Members of the assembly, also elected by universal suffrage, serve for 3-year terms. The country has an independent judiciary and Supreme Court.
At the close of 1989, an end to the civil war seemed remote. Yet in April 1990, representatives of both the FMLN and the government, under the chairmanship of the UN, met and talked in Geneva in the first of a series of negotiations that would lead to peace. A lengthy and problem-ridden negotiating process resulted in a UN-brokered agreement, the Chapultepec Accords, signed on 16 January 1992, followed on 1 February by a formal cease-fire. On 15 December 1992, the day the FMLN registered as a formal political party, the civil war was formally ended. National elections took place in March 1994. The 3 major contending parties were ARENA, the FMLN and the PDC. In the first round of voting in the presidential elections, these parties gained 49%, 25% and 16% of the votes cast, respectively. Following a run off contest in April, Armando Calderon Sol, the ARENA candidate was elected President with 68.2% of the votes cast and was sworn in as President on 1 June 1994. ARENA candidate Francisco Guillermo Flores Perez became president in 1999 after beating former guerrilla Facundo Guardado. The last Presidential elections took place on 21 March 2004. Antonio Saca of the ruling ARENA party won by an overwhelming majority with 57.51% of the vote. The main opposition FMLN party, trailed with 35.9%. The other 2 contending parties - PDC-PDU Coalition and PCN failed to secure the 3% required to retain their legitimacy as political parties. Elections for the Legislative Assembly took place in March 2006. The governing ARENA party won 34 of the 84 seats, whilst the leftist FMLN won 32.
On 24 January 2006, Schafik Handel, the 75-year old leader of the opposition FMLN party died of a heart attack.
Elections for the Legislative Assembly took place in January 2009. The governing ARENA party won 32of the 84 seats, whilst the leftist FMLN won 35.
The Presidential election on 15 March 2009 was won by Mauricio Funes, of the FMLN party, in a closely run contest. Funes secured just over 51% of the vote, whilst Rodrigo Avila, candidate for the governing ARENA party, gained approximately 48% of the vote.
Maurico Funes was sworn in on 1 June 2009 as the first President from the leftist FMLN party since the signing of the Peace Accords in 1992. In his inauguration address Funes promised to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba and he announced the $474 million Anticrisis Plan, a set of measures meant to stabilise the Salvadoran economy and stimulate job creation.
Human rights
El Salvador has ratified the following international human rights conventions:
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination;
- Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women;
- Convention against Torture or other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
El Salvador is also a Party to the American Convention on Human Rights and has accepted the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights based in San José.
UK support for human rights
The 12-year civil war, which ended in 1992, left 75,000 dead and 1 million displaced. Since then, the country has made considerable progress in reconciling the one-time warring factions and in moving forward the democratic process. There is no longer any systemic abuse of human rights although social and economic rights remain badly deficient. The greatest threat to stability remains the high level of violent crime and the poor state of public security.
The UK is concerned about human rights abuses wherever they occur. We regularly raise our concerns about human rights issues in the framework of our bilateral relations and in international fora. In El Salvador there are several areas of concern including the increase in violent crime, the lack of public security and corruption. Police training incorporating awareness of human rights liabilities is an area where the UK has provided assistance. The UK has also supported small-scale initiatives to help with the rehabilitation of gang members and to provide an alternative for young people.
