So who won the election anyways?

El Salvador's national elections were March 1, but we still don't know who won the final seat in the National Assembly.  

Currently the parties have won the following seats in the 84 seat National Assembly:

FMLN -- 31 deputies
GANA -- 11 deputies 
ARENA -- 34 deputies
PCN -- 6 deputies
PDC -- 1 deputy  

The FMLN and GANA often vote together, and have 42, or half the deputies, but need 43 for a simple majority.

ARENA, PCN and PDC often vote together, and they have now 41 deputies.

The remaining seat is being disputed between ARENA, and CD (Democratic Change).   CD typically allies itself with the FMLN.   So the outcome of this seat will determine whether the left gains a majority in the National Assembly, or if the country has a legislature split evenly in half.

The votes which will determine the outcome are from San Salvador department.  For the past week, the parties have been struggling over the scrutiny of tally sheets and ballots to determine the remaining deputy and the balance of power in the legislature.

Comments

Paul Marks said…
Interesting that you admit that GANA is part of "the left" - at election time it pretends to be a conservative party.
wendyjp said…
Hi Tim. I've been a quiet lurker of your blog, but I thought to comment because I'm curious to hear any thoughts you have on the implications of the final outcome of the legislative elections. It seems that ARENA is the big winner from the elections, but assuming coalitions remain as is the FMLN/GANA alliance remains an equally important force, and I'm not sure whether there is any indication that the FMLN can't just buy the votes they need to have a majority as they did in the previous assembly? I've been reading the local press but haven't seen any particularly insightful mention of what the new assembly makeup means for El Salvador going forward, so I though I'd ask if you'd seen or know of any commentary along those lines. Thanks!