El Salvador: Protests block parliament

Supporters of El Savador's left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) stormed parliament on May 1 in protest against attempts to impose a right-wing deputy as Congress president.

The protest occurred just weeks before the June 1 swearing in of El Salvador's first left-wing president, the FMLN's candidate Mauricio Funes.

Days before the May 1 protest, the outgoing Congress, controlled by the right, rammed through a number of laws and constitutional reforms that included the banning of gay marriage, allowing phone taps, and an extension of the mandates of mayors and deputies.

When the new parliament — elected in January — was convened on May 1, three right-wing parties united in an attempt to elect Ciro Cruz Zepeda, from the National Conciliation Party (PCN), as assembly president.

FMLN deputies boycotted the session and protests forced the Congress into recess — temporarily preventing the election.

Two days later, the vote was approved.

Although the FMLN is the largest party in the new parliament, it does not have a majority. The FMLN had proposed a compromise agreement to rotate control of the presidency of the Congress.

Cruz, the PCN's presidential candidate for the May 15 presidential elections, withdrew before the poll. Along with the Christian Democratic Party, the PCN gave its support to Rodrigo Avilo, candidate for the right-wing Arena party. Arena had been in power, until the latest elections, since the end of the military dictatorship 20 years ago.

Despite this attempt to unite to keep out the FMLN — which waged an armed struggle against the dictatorship during the 1980s — Funes won with just over 51% of the vote. This was despite documented electoral fraud by Arena.

Funes has promised to follow the path of "a preferential option for the poor".

From GLW issue 794