FUNES AND SACA TAKE THE HIGH ROAD

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 000234 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ES SUBJECT: FUNES AND SACA TAKE THE HIGH ROAD ¶1. Summary: President Saca and President-elect Mauricio Funes publicly took the high road one day after the FMLN candidate was chosen to be the next president of El Salvador. President Saca announced that he would establish a transition team and would meet with President-elect Funes to discuss the transition. Saca also said that he would invite Funes to the next meeting of the System for Central American Integration (SICA) scheduled for March 25 in Nicaragua and to the Summit of the Americas meeting scheduled for April 17-19 in Trinidad and Tobago. Funes called for national unity and said that he would appoint individuals from the right to his cabinet. End Summary. ¶2. President Antonio Elias "Tony" Saca announced March 16 that he would meet with President-elect Funes the following week to discuss the transition. He also announced that he would establish a transition team which would include Technical Secretary to the President Eduardo Ayala Grimaldi, Minister of Treasury William Handal, and Minister of Education Darlyn Meza. He also said that he would invite Funes to the next SICA meeting scheduled for March 25 in Nicaragua and to the Summit of the Americas meeting scheduled for April 17-19 in Trinidad and Tobago. ¶3. Funes, in a television interview, called for national unity during the transition and said he would appoint some members of the right to his cabinet. When pressed, he would not reveal names and indicated the selection process would last into May. He said that he preferred to refer to his "government team" announced prior to the election which included relatively moderate FMLN officials and "Friends of Mauricio" from the private sector. Funes said that he would work with President Saca until his final day in office. BLAU