New Ideas Party Achieves 28 Out of 44 Salvadoran Mayoralties

After counting 78 percent of the minutes, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) is about to conclude the count of the elections held on Sunday. According to official data, President Nayib Bukele's New Ideas party obtained 28 out of 44 mayoralties in El Salvador.

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His political allies won 15 mayorships, distributed among the Great Alliance for National Unity (6), the Christian Democracy Party (4), the National Concertation Party (6), and Solidarity Force (1).

Over the weekend, Salvadorans went to the polls to elect mayors and 20 members of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN). Opposition parties, however, denounced multiple irregularities in this subnational electoral process.

These irregularities included delays in the formation and installation of polling stations, substitution of qualified personnel in the polling stations by alleged members of the ruling party, and late delivery of electoral materials in some polling stations.

The text reads, "Towards autocracy in the name of security. Bukele's party won 43 out of 44 mayoralties in El Salvador. 'The people's decision is respected.'"

"The municipal elections were characterized by apathy at the polling stations. Over 1,500 polling stations were practically empty, showing the low voter turnout," said TeleSUR correspondent Roberto Hugo Preza in El Salvador.

Last year, due to a legal reform approved by Congress, most of the 262 municipalities were converted into districts in El Salvador, a country which now only has 44 municipalities.

Sunday's elections took place a month after the presidential and legislative elections, in which Bukele secured re-election for a second consecutive term, despite the Salvadoran Constitution prohibiting such a possibility.

In the elections of February 4, which were also marred by allegations of irregularities, the New Ideas party won 54 out of 60 parliamentary seats.