A former Marxist guerrilla leader won El Salvador’s presidential election by less than 7,000 votes, final results showed on Thursday, and his right-wing rival continued to press to have the vote annulled. Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the ruling Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), which as a militant group fought a string of U.S.-backed governments in a 1980-1992 civil war, won 50.11 percent support in Sunday’s vote, results showed. Challenger Norman Quijano, the 67-year-old former mayor of San Salvador and candidate of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena) party, had 49.89 percent support. He has filed a claim to annul the election due to fraud. The electoral tribunal’s president, Eugenio Chicas, said the five-member court unanimously validated the election results, showing that Sanchez Ceren beat Quijano by 6,364 votes.
“We make an invitation to build for the future, because the FMLN’s presidential ticket, now elected to lead the country, is going to work to unite the country,” Sanchez Ceren said.
Due to the ongoing dispute, the tribunal said it could take until Sunday or Monday to work through Quijano’s legal challenge to the election and settle any remaining doubts.
Quijano said on Wednesday he had proof that 20,000 people had voted twice, but refused to share evidence with media. International observers said they had seen no evidence of widespread fraud.
Full Article: Former guerrilla wins El Salvador vote; rival protests | Reuters.
