Salvadorians head to the polls Sunday to elect their new president. The favorite to win Sunday’s vote is a young outsider who has vowed to stamp out corruption.If poll predictions play out, the two parties that have ruled El Salvador for the past 30 years could lose their grip on power.
The vote comes as the small impoverished Central American country battles to tackle gang violence, corruption and mass migration from the region to the United States.
Although the race is expected to be close, opinion polls suggest Nayib Bukele, a candidate for the right-wing Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), has the best chance of winning. A victory for the 37-year-old would be significant, given that he isn’t from either of the two main parties that have dominated Salvadorian politics since 1989.
Carlos Calleja, 42, of the conservative nationalist Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) is predicted to finish in second place, while Hugo Martinez, the candidate for the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), is trailing in third position.
If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a second round runoff between the top two candidates will take place on March 10.