Salvadoreans on Sunday elected Nayib Bukele, the popular former mayor of San Salvador, as their nation’s new president — a result that ends the near 30-year grip on power of its two largest parties.
“At this moment we can announce with total certainty that we have won the presidency,” the 37-year-old Bukele, of the conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity, told supporters late on Sunday.
A few minutes earlier, the nation’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) had awarded him 52.93 percent of the vote with almost 70 percent of ballots counted.
Photo: Reuters
It went on to announce preliminary results gave Bukele an “irreversible” lead of 53.78 percent of votes with 87.67 percent counted.
Bukele’s opponents — Carlos Calleja of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance, and Hugo Martinez of the leftist Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation — recognized the win.
For nearly three decades, their parties have had a firm hold on Salvadorean politics.
“We recognize the results of these elections. We are going to call the president-elect to wish him luck in facing the challenges in this country,” runner-up Calleja said.
Martinez took third place.
About 5.2 million people voted in the election, TSE head Julio Olivo said.
Voters formed long lines outside polling stations in parts of the capital.
Outgoing Salvadorean President Salvador Sanchez Ceren said voting proceeded “very calmly and very normally.”
About 23,000 police officers and 15,000 soldiers were deployed to protect the sixth presidential election since democracy was restored in 1992.
Taiwan and El Salvador terminated diplomatic relations on Aug. 21 last year.
Bukele has promised to increase investment in education and fight corruption, but his main task will be to implement new programs to confront insecurity.
El Salvador has been battered by gang violence, which authorities say was the source of most of the 3,340 murders reported last year.
He will also have to form an alliance with the right, which dominates congress.
“The new president must offer daring security solutions,” said Carlos Carcach, an analyst and professor at the Higher School of Economy and Business in El Salvador.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned