The Electoral Court of El Salvador has settled the dispute over the results of the elections that gave an overwhelming victory to President Nayib Bukele.
The body reported that it has concluded the counting of votes to assign deputies to the National Assembly, despite criticism from the opposition, whose weak leadership has announced that it will ask for the legislative elections to be repeated.
The vote count gives a large majority to Bukele's Nuevas Ideas party, which consolidates it as the main political force in the small Central American country.
The controversial president obtained 2.7 million votes, which represents 84% of the electoral roll.
Bukele has celebrated the victory without inflammatory speeches, only posting this Monday on his X profile (formerly Twitter) a video of the congregation of thousands of his followers outside the Presidential Palace, in San Salvador, on the night of the election.
The electoral authorities announced the recount of the votes for Congress a week ago, after complaints of irregularities filed by opposition parties and the media, which were echoed by the observation mission of the Organization of American States (OAS). ).
Bukele, without waiting for the court to make the results official, had said that his party would win 58 deputies out of the 60 that make up the legislative branch, although the results still need to be made official, which is expected to happen this Monday night.
The opposition has reported that it will ask the authorities to repeat the legislative elections.
The right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) has joined two other minor parties in demanding a new election.
“As a right-wing party, a conservative party, we have joined the request for the annulment of the legislative elections, because we will always be defenders of the democracy of freedom,” said Carlos Saade, president of that group.
🔴 The president of @ARENAOFICIAL, Carlos Saade, said that their structures demanded that they request the annulment of the elections and that is why they accompanied this request together with their sister parties: Vamos and Nuestro Tiempo.
pic.twitter.com/BzeZs5Si4L
— GatoEncerrado Magazine (@GatoEncerradoSV) February 19, 2024
“Something smells very bad,” added the politician.
“In this election there was a scam, that is why we are denouncing the annulment.
“There have been irregularities, manipulation of the electoral system,” he assured.
It is very unlikely that the opposition demand will succeed.
Preliminary data gives ARENA two deputies in Congress, while the leftist FMLN, the former second political force, has been left out of the chamber.
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