| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Asamblea legislativa / Legislative Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
1 March 2015 |
| Purpose of elections |
Results of the 2015 elections were similar to the composition to the outgoing legislature. The National Republican Alliance (ARENA) remained the largest force in the 84-member Legislative Assembly with 32 seats, one more than the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN ), effectively led by President Salvador Sánchez Cerén. The Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), a splinter party of the ARENA, which supported the FMLN in the outgoing legislature, retained its 11 seats.
The 2015 elections were the first to be held since Mr. Cerén - a former guerrilla commander during El Salvador's civil war (19791992) was elected President in March 2014. He succeeded President Mauricio Funes (FMLN), who was not eligible for a second consecutive term. Following the collapse in mid-2014 of the 2012 truce between the country's two main gangs, homicides increased sharply: 481 people were killed in March 2015 in a country of 6.1 million inhabitants. During the election campaign, the major parties focused on ways to counter gang-related violence and crime, while also promising to create more jobs.
A new voting method was applied for the first time in 2015, following a November 2014 ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice that citizens could not be prevented from voting for individual candidates from one or more political parties. Under the new system, voters have a range of options: they may vote for a party or coalition (with the additional possibility of indicating their preference for one or more candidates); they may vote for individual candidates from a party or coalition (without voting for the whole party or coalition); or they may choose individual candidates from different parties in their district.
However, each voter is still entitled to one vote only. Thus, if a voter selects candidates from different parties, his/her one vote will be divided among those candidates' parties. Seats in the Legislative Assembly are still allotted based on the number of votes that each party receives, either through the votes cast for the party or its candidates. Thereafter, the party seats are distributed to candidates according to the number of preferential votes that they received. Unlike other parties, the FMLN urged its supporters to vote only for the party, not for individual candidates. |
Date of previous elections: 11 March 2012
Timing of election: Upon normal expiry
Expected date of next elections: March 2018
Number of seats at stake: 84 (full renewal)
Number of candidates: Not available.
Percentage of women candidates: Not available.
Number of parties contesting the election: 10
Number of parties winning seats: 8
Alternation of power: No
Number of parties in government: 1
Names of parties in government: Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN)
Date of the first session of the new parliament: 14 May 2015*
*The first session, constitutionally due on 1 May 2015, was delayed due to vote recounts in San Salvador.
Name of the new Speaker: Ms. Lorena Peña (FMLN), from 14 May 2015 to 7 Nov. 2016*
*To be succeeded by Mr. Guillermo Gallegos (GANA) from 8 November 2016 to 30 April 2018.
|
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 1 March 2015 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
4'911'672
2'349'450 (47.83%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| National Republican Alliance (ARENA) |
32
|
|
|
|
|
| Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) |
31
|
|
|
|
|
| Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) |
11
|
|
|
|
|
| National Reconciliation Party (NRP) |
4
|
|
|
|
|
| National Republican Alliance - National Conciliation party (ARENA-PCN) |
3
|
|
|
|
|
| National Conciliation party - Salvadoran democracy (PCN-DS) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| National Conciliation party - Christian Democratic Party (PCN-PDC) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Christian Democratic Party (PDC) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
57
27
32.14%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
Legislative Assembly (10.04.2015)
http://www.tse.gob.sv/
http://escrutiniofinal2015.tse.gob.sv/asamblea/ |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
