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Presidential Elections in El Salvador and Costa Rica Go to Runoffs Presidential Elections in El Salvador and Costa Rica Are Headed for Runoffs
(about 9 hours later)
MEXICO CITY — Presidential elections in two Central American countries, El Salvador and Costa Rica, will head to a second round this spring after top contenders in both nations failed to get enough votes on Sunday to win outright, in contests that tested the power of incumbent parties. MEXICO CITY — Presidential elections in two Central American countries, El Salvador and Costa Rica, will head to a second round after top contenders in both nations failed to get enough votes on Sunday to win outright, in contests that tested the power of incumbent parties.
Voters in both countries complained of economic disparity, crime and corruption, but disagreed, at least for now, on throwing out the incumbent party, with El Salvador voters leaning toward keeping it, and Costa Rica voters hinting at tossing it out. Economic disparity, corruption and crime weighed on voters’ minds in both countries, but they disagreed, at least for now, on throwing out the incumbent party, with El Salvador voters leaning toward keeping it, and Costa Rica hinting at tossing it out.
In El Salvador, the left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, known as the F.M.L.N., appeared in good position to hold on to the presidency. It won the office for the first time in 2009, following a string of losses to conservatives after peace accords in 1992 ended one of the bloodiest civil wars in the Americas. In El Salvador, a divided right may have benefited the front-runner of the left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, known as the F.M.L.N., which appeared in good position to hold on to the presidency. It won the office for the first time in 2009, after a string of losses to conservatives following peace accords in 1992 ended one of the bloodiest civil wars in the Americas.
The F.M.L.N. candidate, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, a former guerrilla commander and the vice president, got 49 percent of the vote, but not the plurality needed to avoid a March 9 runoff, according to preliminary results. The F.M.L.N. candidate, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, a former guerrilla commander and the vice president, got 49 percent of the vote, but not the majority needed to avoid a March 9 runoff, according to preliminary results.
Mr. Sánchez, whose guerrilla past has troubled some conservative politicians in the United States, will most likely face off against Norman Quijano, a former mayor of San Salvador and the candidate of the right-leaning Nationalist Republican Alliance, or Arena, who was in second place in the early results with 39 percent of the vote. Though Mr. Sánchez’s past stirred concern among American conservatives, analysts said he represented a more politically mature F.M.L.N., which has lately eschewed radical talk and candidates in favor of politically popular social welfare programs and moderate appeals to bridge a still divided country.
Mr. Quijano campaigned on a crackdown on gang crime, while Mr. Sánchez highlighted social welfare programs he promised to extend. The final outcome may well depend on which one collects the votes given to a third candidate, Antonio Saca, a former president who got 11 percent in the first round and whose politics are more in line with Mr. Quijano’s. “Both the left and right took pains publicly not to remind people of their ideology,” said Cynthia J. Arnson, director the Latin America program at the Wilson Center in Washington. “Both moved a little to the center in their rhetoric.”
Mr. Sánchez is trying to build on the welfare programs and benefits put in place by President Mauricio Funes, who was not a party stalwart and sought a more moderate stance for it, but could not run again because of term limits. Mr. Sánchez will most likely face off against Norman Quijano, a former mayor of San Salvador and the candidate of the right-leaning Nationalist Republican Alliance, or Arena, who was in second place in the early results with 39 percent of the vote. He had campaigned on a promise to continue the F.M.L.N.’s popular social programs while opening the country to more business and cracking down on gang crime, with the military if necessary.
Mr. Sánchez has also promised to rise above partisanship and work with political opponents. Analysts said ideology mattered less to the electorate than a more pragmatic sense of which party would govern better and move the country forward. He has been critical of a fragile truce announced in 2012 among two major gangs and negotiated with the help of a government security minister. It has been credited for a substantial drop in the homicide rate, but rising disappearances and the discovery of a mass grave in December have led skeptics to wonder if the gangs are hiding their victims.
Conservatives in El Salvador “no longer say Venezuela or Cuba are going to rule El Salvador, like they said five years ago,” said José Maria Tojeira, a former rector at the Universidad Centroamericana who closely follows Salvadoran politics. “The fear of ideological extremism has ended.” The final outcome may depend in part on who collects the votes given to a third candidate, Antonio Saca, a former president who received 11 percent in the first round.
Mr. Quijano has been critical of a fragile truce brokered between leaders of two gangs in 2012 with the help of a security minister under Mr. Funes, and he has promised to use the military to ensure public security. The truce has been credited for a substantial drop in the homicide rate, but violence and extortion have continued. More frequent disappearances and the discovery in December of a grave with 24 bodies have led skeptics to wonder if the gangs are simply hiding their victims. Both Mr. Sánchez and Mr. Quijano said Monday that they would vie for Mr. Saca’s voters and made conciliatory comments toward him, though Mr. Saca, who broke with Arena over internal conflicts, did not indicate whether he would endorse another candidate.
But Arena had been hurt by a corruption investigation of former President Francisco Flores, who was Mr. Quijano’s campaign chief until Thursday. And on the eve of the election, Mr. Funes announced that another top Quijano adviser was wanted by Interpol in a sex-crime investigation in Panama. In Costa Rica, Johnny Araya — a former mayor of San José, the capital, and the candidate of the incumbent, centrist National Liberation Party — was narrowly trailing Luis Guillermo Solís, a former Foreign Ministry official and political newcomer representing the progressive Citizens Action Party. They will likely meet in an April 6 runoff.
“The most important thing for the Salvadoran people right now is security,” said Luis González, 58, a federal worker who said he had voted for Mr. Saca. “People are dying indiscriminately from such a big wave of violence.” This development was something of a surprise because Mr. Solís had not been at the top of pre-election polls, but analysts had said the election was hard to predict because there were 13 candidates and the electorate seemed disaffected with parties and the course of the country.
In Costa Rica, Johnny Araya — a former mayor of San Jose, the capital, and the candidate of the incumbent, centrist National Liberation Party — was narrowly trailing Luis Guillermo Solís, a former Foreign Ministry official and political newcomer representing the progressive Citizens Action Party.
This development was something of a surprise, because Mr. Solís had not been at the top of pre-election polls, but analysts had said the election was hard to predict because there were 13 candidates and the electorate seemed disaffected with parties and the course of the country.
Voters were angry about unemployment, crime and corruption scandals that have put the approval ratings of President Laura Chinchilla, who could not run again because of term limits, among the lowest in Latin America.Voters were angry about unemployment, crime and corruption scandals that have put the approval ratings of President Laura Chinchilla, who could not run again because of term limits, among the lowest in Latin America.
“Party loyalty has all but dissolved,” said Kevin Casas-Zamora, a former Costa Rican vice president who is now political secretary at the Organization of American States “Costa Rica was a triumph of outsider politics,” Ms. Arnson said. “Solís is by no means unknown. But he is widely respected, and his slogans against corruption and for good, honest government resonated in a way the traditional parties could not capture.”
Mr. Casas-Zamora said, “The feeling is there is a desire to reject the status quo, less of a commitment to ideology.” Mr. Solís garnered 31 percent of the vote, to Mr. Araya’s 30 percent. José María Villalta, a young left-leaning lawmaker whose surge in pre-election polls put him in the spotlight, ended up with 17 percent.
Mr. Solís garnered 31 percent of the vote, to Mr. Araya’s 30 percent. José María Villalta, a young left-leaning lawmaker whose surge in pre-election polls put him in the spotlight, ended up with 17 percent. The runoff vote will be on April 6. Mr. Araya sought to distance himself from the Chinchilla administration and said he would be best suited to tackling the public debt, including, if necessary, by imposing new taxes.
Mr. Araya, of the incumbent National Liberation party, sought to distance himself from the Chinchilla administration and said he would be best suited to tackling the public debt, including, if necessary, by imposing new taxes. Mr. Solís campaigned largely on fighting corruption and shoring up the government social security system, and he promised to reach out to civil society, not just the other parties, for support.
Mr. Solís campaigned largely on fighting corruption and shoring up the government social security system. “I am not just talking about alliances with parties, because the people want dialogue. We parties are a limited expression of society,” Mr. Solís told a news conference, according to the newspaper La Nación.
No matter who wins, the political splintering will make it hard to get bills through a legislature where no party has a majority, said Bruce Wilson, a professor at the University of Central Florida who studies Costa Rican politics.
“That is an even bigger mess,” he said. “There doesn’t seem to be a mass mandate, from the polling data. If Congress is so fractious, to get your agenda through will be very difficult.”