EL SALVADOR ELECTION UPDATE: JANUARY 9

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 000037 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2019 TAGS: PGOV KPLS KPEM ES SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR ELECTION UPDATE: JANUARY 9 Classified By: The Ambassador, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Summary: This is an update regarding the Salvadoran municipal and legislative elections scheduled for January 18, and the presidential elections scheduled for March 15. This report includes results of the December 21 Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) test of the electronic data system, an ongoing investigation regarding the involvement of gang members in electoral violence, and allegations of corruption regarding election day transportation. -------------- - SECOND ELECTORAL TEST REVEALS TECHNICAL ISSUES -------------- - ¶2. (U) The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) conducted a second electronic transmission data test December 21. The TSE concluded that although the data transmission was an improvement over the December 7 test, there were still some technical failures. According to the Deputy Director of the Electoral Surveillance Board Lilian de Benavides, some electoral centers successfully received transmission reports, but the national system did not detect the transmitted information. ¶3. (U) Other problems included blackouts in some voting centers. For example, in Juayua (located in the Western zone of the country) a blackout prevented electoral information from being successfully transmitted. Also, some voting centers did not open and the test was not conducted as planned. The TSE plans on conducting a third test next week. -------------- GANGS LINKED TO ELECTORAL ACTIVITIES -------------- ¶4. (U) On January 6, the National Civilian Police (PNC) confirmed that gang members were participating in electoral propaganda campaigns in the municipalities of Apopa, Soyapango, San Marcos, Usulutan, and Santa Ana. These municipalities have reported electoral violence incidents in the recent months. PNC Director Jose Luis Tobar Prieto publicly asserted that gang members increase the risk for the political violence. Tobar Prieto did not mention which political parties have been linked with gangs but said the political parties involved have been notified about the situation. Conservative newspaper El Diario de Hoy linked the gangs to the FMLN, and showed a photo of a youth with gang-style tattoos wearing an FMLN bandana. FMLN presidential candidate Mauricio Funes publicly distanced himself from the gangs, although he commented that he could ;not veto the political sympathies of Salvadoran citizens, be they gang members or otherwise. ¶5. (U) The PNC reported January 6 that it received 45 complaints of electoral violence between October and December ¶2008. The Attorney General,s Office (AG) reported 10 ongoing investigations regarding electoral violence in San Salvador. Additional investigations are taking place in Sonsonate and San Vicente. -------------- ELECTION DAY TRANSPORTATION ISSUES -------------- ¶6. (U) The TSE announced January 7 that a transportation company closely aligned with ARENA had been given the concession to provide transportation to voters on election day. The TSE plans to spend $54,756 to transport approximately 750,000 voters to polling sites. The owner of the transportation company, Catalino Miranda, is closely linked to the (conservative, pro-U.S.) National Republican Alliance (ARENA) and other transportation companies, who were not called to bid on the concession, are alleging corruption. ¶7. (U) On January 7, The Legislative Assembly passed a temporary decree to allow the TSE to transfer $765,645 to political parties for payment of transportation expenses. The money will be divided according to the votes obtained in the 2003 municipal election, and political parties that did not participate in the election will receive $5,000. -------------- ARENA STILL DRAFTING PLATFORM -------------- ¶8. (C) ARENA platform coordinator (and Ambassador to the U.S.) Rene Leon told PolCouns January 8 he expected the Avila campaign would roll out its platform (plan de gobierno) on January 27. He said the plan was nearly finished. The most controversial sections, he said, was the one on "Values" which expounded an "Opus Dei" vision of El Salvador: mass marriages to formalize common-law marriages, opposition to abortion, opposition to same-sex marriage, and a call for teachers in public schools to promote religious values. Leon said much of this agenda was being pushed by ARENA candidate Rodrigo Avila's wife Celina Denys de Avila and a small group of Catholic conservatives within ARENA. He questioned whether such a hard-line approach on social values would win votes, and said this was one area of the platform that was not driven by a desire to draw differences with the FMLN, rather because a small group in ARENA holds these ideals dear. Leon planned meet with the Avilas and others later that day to discuss the chapter. ¶9. (C) Leon said he and ARENA had been open to input in the platform from ARENA VP Candidate Arturo Zablah and his Alliance for Change group, but suggestions of including language that would question dollarization or free trade deals had been ruled out. He said the bulk of input received from Zablah and his advisors came from the September 2007 platform circulated by the Alliance for Change when Zablah was exploring a run for the Salvadoran presidency. -------------- -------------- FMLN HOLDS ELECTION EVENT FOR DIPLOMATIC COMMUNITY -------------- -------------- ¶10. (C) The (left-wing) Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) held an event for the diplomatic community January 7 to express their support for international election observers and raise their concerns with Salvadoran Electoral Law. The event was attended by diplomats from Europe, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Mexico. ¶11. (C) The FMLN raised concerns they have with specific articles in the Salvadoran Electoral Law which are contradictory and could lead to ambiguity. The FMLN specifically mentioned the case in which (left-center) Revolutionary Democratic Front (FDR) has been able to remain on the January 18 ballot in Morazan, La Paz, and Sonsonate even though the party did not register any legislative candidates in those departments. The FMLN plans to petition the TSE to overturn the recent &controversial8 decision (3-2) to allow the FDR to remain on the ballot in these departments. (Comment: In our view, the TSE's decision is in direct violation of article 239 of the electoral code, which states that candidates must be registered in order for their party to appear on the ballot. End Comment.) ¶12. (C) Additionally, the FMLN obliquely criticized the OAS certification of the current Salvadoran Voter Registry and applauded the European Union election monitoring mission's more vocal and aggressive comments regarding deficiencies with the registry. In comments after the FMLN,s presentation, the Venezuelan Political Counselor was quite critical of the voter registry and the inefficiencies in the Electoral Law created by recent legislative reforms. His comments seemed to put the FMLN representatives on the defensive, and TSE Magistrate Eugenio Chicas responded by saying these elections would have to be conducted based upon the current laws passed by the Assembly. ¶13. (C) Interestingly, the FMLN anticipates that the January 18 election should be called, via preliminary results, by 8-9 PM on election night with all the &actas8 (voting summaries from each voting board) being transmitted electronically to be reviewed and tabulated at the TSE. Chicas also said that a Dominican company had been contracted by the TSE, "at significant additional cost," to conduct a review, if the results have not been finalized by January 23. By law, the results must be finalized within 48 hours of the election. GLAZER