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