El Salvador - Election Fever?

February 4

Hello everyone!

As I mentioned in a previous blog, about 70 countries will be holding national elections this year. In the 2024 cycle, the country I currently live in, El Salvador, has its day in the sun quite early. Time to vote!

President Bukele voting in the February 2024 election

Well, not for me, but for the millions of eligible voters both here and within the Salvadorean diaspora. I don’t get a say, understandably as I’ve lived here less than two years. It’s usually a time of tension and excitement but, as most people see the vote as a foregone conclusion, I do wonder how much ‘fever’ there is.

The Ministry of Agriculture, near my house, is a voting station

A support tent for a Nuevas Ideas candidate

A bit of background. Five years ago, in 2019, El Salvador broke its historical mould. In electing a man called Nayib Bukele, the country rejected the main political parties and swung in a new direction. 

Bukele won over 50% of the vote and a majority in every department or state

Many international observers would describe his tenure as ‘controversial’. The country has made headlines, both positive and negative, since a ‘state of exception’ was put into place in March 2022. This was enacted to deal with El Salvador’s infamous gang problem once and for all.

Over 60 people were killed in San Salvador on one night in March 2022 (BBC), leading to the change in policy

By some metrics, this has been wildly successful. The homicide rate has plunged from 103 per 100,000 residents in 2015 to 2.4 per 100,000. I’ve been told stories of teachers being mugged or caught in crossfire between gangs in years gone by. Now I walk around like I would in the UK.

The CECOT maximum security prison, built to house
gang members and other criminals, was finished in January 2023

Other statistics would point to concern. Approximately 80,000 people have been arrested, meaning that the country now has the highest incarceration rate in the world. 

Pictures released by the government showing prisoners

Campaigning has been happening for a while, with seven presidential candidates. Two elections happen on the same day - you vote for a president, then vote for a parliamentary representative. The latter has changed slightly - during the last five years, the number of members in the legislature has reduced from 84 to 60. 

The department I live in is called La Libertad

Well, I think campaigning has been happening. I’ve seen signs stuck around the city on billboards and lampposts of various people from various parties. I’ve had text messages from the government reminding me to vote. But I don’t see local news, hear local radio or follow much of it online. It is the bubble in which I sit, and politics isn’t openly discussed to the same degree that I’ve seen in other countries.

Flags for the Nuestro Tiempo party hanging on the street outside my residencia

Government: persistent

The one person’s face I haven’t seen on a billboard? President Bukele himself. He’s quite media-savvy, however, with his Instagram account highlighting positives from his time in charge.

Reminders about successes, such as Miss
World, have popped up on Instagram 

President Bukele met Marshmello during last year's
Central American and Caribbean Games

That arguably brings us to the main element of controversy about this election. According to the law when elected in 2019, a president cannot be elected for two consecutive terms. The longer explanation of why he’s running is here. At this moment in time, he’s not actually the president, having stepped down at the end of November 2023. This allows a six-month period out of office to be completed before a new government is formed in June 2024.

Helping with Miss World was one of Bukele's final acts
before handing over power to Claudia Rodriguez,
making her El Salvador's first female 'president'

Not everyone was happy about the decision of the court

Bukele will lead that government, there is little doubt about that. His approval ratings hover between 80% and 90%. How many seats his Nuevas Ideas party wins may shape the direction of the country in the next five years.

This man, interviewed by the BBC, had flown back
to El Salvador specifically to vote for Bukele

Free buses were put on to shuttle people to voting stations

Being a politics major at university, I take great interest in how the countries I live in function. It's always tricky ground to navigate: it's actually explicitly stated in my contract that I cannot participate in a political demonstration. That's why there aren't any personal opinions in this piece, in case you were thinking this post is a bit bland!

My 'I run better than the government'
T-shirt isn't one to wear on election day!

One interesting element to elections here is that a drinking ban is put in place in the days around the election day of Sunday. For all of Saturday, Sunday and Monday, alcohol is not allowed to be sold or consumed in public. Our dogs decided to do their drinking on Friday, accidentally breaking some beer cans whilst trying to remove a mouse from the house.

Walmart's beer aisle has never looked so quiet!

The official confirmation

Compared to the last election I was around for, in Malawi in 2019 (and then 2020), I hope this one is calmer and safer. And that people don’t make up for lost time drinking on the Tuesday! 

The mouse was caught

Will Walter be in the chamber?

Love you all,

Matt

UPDATE (Feb 5)

Spoiler alert. Bukele won. Big.