On 12 March 2006, Salvadorans went to the polls to elect 84 members to the Legislative Assembly, as well as 262 municipal councillors (La Voz 16 Mar. 2006). According to data published by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Supremo Electoral, TSE), only 52.56 per cent of the 3,801,040 Salvadorans who were eligible to vote cast ballots on Sunday, 12 March 2006 (El Diario de Hoy n.d.). This percentage corresponds to a total of 1,997,814 voters (ibid.).

On Saturday, 18 March 2006, the TSE confirmed that, during the legislative elections, the reigning Nationalist Republican Alliance (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, ARENA) had won 34 seats; the leftist party, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la liberación nacional, FMLN), 32 seats; the National Conciliation Party (Partido de Conciliación national, PCN), 10 seats; the Christian Democratic Party (Partido demócrata cristiano, PDC) 6 seats; and the Democratic Change (Cambio Democrático, CD), 2 seats (AFP 18 Mar. 2006; El Diario de Hoy 18 Mar. 2006). The results of the elections marked an improvement for the ARENA, which had won 27 seats in 2003; the FMLN won one more seat than it did in 2003 (El Diario de Hoy n.d.).

The results of the municipal elections, also held on 12 March 2006, are as follows: ARENA, 147 mayoralties; FMLN, 52 mayoralties; PCN, 3 mayoralties; and PDC, 14 mayoralties (AFP 18 Mar. 2006). The last 10 mayoralties were won by various coalitions (ibid.). The mayoralty of San Salvador, the most important in the country, was won by FMLN candidate Violeta Menjívar (Día a día 16 Mar. 2006; Washington Hispanic n.d.). This is the first time a woman has won that position (ibid.). The elected members of parliament, mayors and municipal councillors will begin their three-year terms on 1 May 2006 (AFP 18 Mar. 2006).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Agence France-Presse (AFP). 18 March 2006. "Tribunal electoral confirma resultados de comicios en El Salvador." http://www.mipunto.com/punto_noticias/noticia_latin.jsp?tipo=CENTRO&archivo=060318185145.9nxgkp1x.txt [Accessed 20 Mar. 2006]

Día a día. 16 March 2006. "Violeta Menjívar alcaldesa de San Salvador." http://www.diaadia.us/default.asp?c=nota&t=14943&f=2006-3-16 [Accessed 20 Mar. 2006]

El Diario de Hoy [San Salvador, in Spanish]. N.d. Wilfredo Salamanca. "Acudió el 52.56% de ciudadanos." http://www.elsalvador.com/especiales/2006/elecciones/noticias/nota339.asp [Accessed 20 Mar. 2006]

La Voz [Phoenix, in Spanish]. 16 March 2006. "Presidente Saca felicita a próxima alcaldesa de San Salvador." http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/spanish/politics/articles/politics_80413.html [Accessed 20 Mar. 2006]

Washington Hispanic. N.d. Mitzi Macias. "Menjívar es la primera alcaldesa en la historia de San Salvador." http://www.washingtonhispanic.com/html/especial.html [Accessed 20 Mar. 2006]

Internet sites, including: BBC, Diario CoLatino, EFENews, La Prensa Gráfica, Organization of American States.