Politics of El Salvador

El Salvador

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of El Salvador

Constitution (history) President Mauricio Funes Vice President Salvador Sánchez Cerén Legislative Assembly Speaker Sigfrido Reyes Morales Political parties Elections President 2004 Legislature 2006 Legislature 2009 President 2009 Departments Municipalities Foreign relations

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Politics of El Salvador takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of El Salvador is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties see List of political parties in El Salvador. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in El Salvador.

Main article: Salvadoran presidential election, 2009

Key political parties in El Salvador include ARENA and the FMLN.

Executive branch

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President	Mauricio Funes	FMLN	1 June 2009
Vice-president	Salvador Sánchez Cerén	FMLN	1 June 2009

El Salvador elects its head of state – the President of El Salvador – directly through a fixed-date general election whose winner is decided by absolute majority. If an absolute majority (50% + 1) is not achieved by any candidate in the first round of a presidential election, then a run-off pool election is conducted 30 days later between the two candidates who obtained the most votes in the first round. The presidential period is five years, and re-election is not permitted.

Legislative branch

Main article: Legislative Assembly of El Salvador

Salvadorans also elect a single-chamber, unicameral national legislature – the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador – of 84 members (deputies) elected by closed-list proportional representation for three-year terms, with the possibility of immediate re-election. Twenty of the 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly are elected on the basis of a single national constituency. The remaining 64 are elected in 14 multi-member constituencies (corresponding to the country's 14 departments) that range from 3-16 seats each according to department population size

Judicial branch

Main article: Court system of El Salvador

External links

• Changing Colors in El Salvador by Emma Vawter, The Yale Globalist, May 11 2009