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.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS