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Election Profile:

Country: El Salvador Official Name: Republic of El Salvador Election Type: Legislative Date: January 18, 2009 Source for election date

At stake in this election:

• 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Elias Antonio SACA Gonzalez *
• Head of Government: President Elias Antonio SACA Gonzalez
• Assembly: El Salvador has a unicameral Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa) with 84 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Legislative Assembly (Asamblea Legislativa) 84 members are elected by party-list system with proportional distribution of seats to serve 3-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Nationalist Republican Alliance / Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA)
  Leader: Rodrigo AVILA
  Seats won in this election: 32
  Seats won in last election: 34
• Party: Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front / Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN)
  Leader: Medardo GONZALEZ
  Seats won in this election: 35
  Seats won in last election: 32
• Party: National Conciliation Party / Partido de Conciliación Nacional (PCN)
  Leader: Ciro CRUZ ZEPEDA
  Seats won in this election: 11
  Seats won in last election: 10
• Party: Christian Democratic Party / Partido Demócrata Cristiano (PDC)
  Leader: Rodolfo PARKER
  Seats won in this election: 5
  Seats won in last election: 6
• Party: Democratic Change / Cambio Democrático (CD)
  Leader: Hector DADA HIREZI
  Seats won in this election: 1
  Seats won in last election: 2
• Party: Democratic Revolutionary Front / Frente Democrático Revolucionario (FDR)
  Leader: Julio HERNANDEZ
  Seats won in this election: 0
  Seats won in last election: 0

Last Legislative election:

• The last legislative election was held in El Salvador on March 12, 2006. While the ruling ARENA party won the most seats in 2006, it did not win a majority in the legislature.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,732,348 ( 2007 From 2007 national census)
• Registered Voters: 4,226,479 (January 2009 )

Last Updated on 08/29/2008