Durán becomes the new mayor according to 89.45% of the minutes examined. While the current mayor, Ernesto Muyshondt, said that the attacks against him are excessive, but that he respects the decision of the voters.
Mario Durán, candidate for New Ideas, becomes the new mayor of San Salvador after defeating his competitor Ernesto Muyshondt, from the ARENA party, who aspires to a second term as mayor, according to preliminary data from the counting of the minutes of the Supreme Electoral Court.
For his part, Muyshondt, at a press conference on Monday afternoon, thanked those who supported him during his term as mayor of San Salvador.
“In recent months, this has been the worst process in the electoral and democratic history of our country. We are not facing an opponent, but a state campaign, with abrupt and non-discriminatory use of state resources, institutions and not only to promote official candidates, but to persecute, harass and injure those they consider opponents. . Politicians, “Muyshondt said.
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The former mayor of San Salvador said that the attack on his person, his family and as a candidate was excessive during the months. He also explained that non-payment of Fodes was a strategy so that mayors do not carry out works and affect them politically.
He described the election process as a constant violation of laws “that had never been seen before.” However, he said he respected the decision of the voters.
“We respect the decision of the people and we will do everything in our power to make a transparent and orderly transition from San Salvador City Hall to the people who will come to govern it,” he said.
“We will always continue to fight for our homeland, our democracy, our people, especially for the most vulnerable people, for our city and for all Salvadorans,” he added.
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In his farewell speech, he also took a moment to refer to the actions of the Executive: “Today there is no excuse for the Government, today there will be no Legislative Assembly to blame for its failures. Now he will no longer have opposition mayors to block, attack or not pay Fodes. It’s time to prove and highlight and not to blame or look for culprits, “he said.
By 3 pm on Monday, 475 out of a total of 531 records had been processed, preliminary data from the TSE highlighted him as the winner of the capital’s commune, with 89.45 percent of the records examined.
While the ARENA party adds 56,838 votes from the total number of processed registrations.
Durán was proclaimed the winner on Monday morning through his Twitter account, where he exchanged his profile information and described himself as “elected mayor of the capital El Salvador”.
Later, his party also supported Durán’s announcement in a social media post.
“@Nuevasideas are back in San Salvador! @Marioduran, mayor!”
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On February 28, Durán voted at the Manuel José Arce National Institute in the Modelo neighborhood of San Salvador, where he was accompanied by a group of supporters.
Durán’s elections are based on allegations of corruption while accompanying Bukele in his term as mayor of the capital’s commune in 2015-2018. The political opposition also indicated that the government used public resources to campaign for its allies New Ideas and the Great Alliance for National Unity (GANA).
A total of 17,074 candidates were elected on February 28 on a day that highlighted the crowds and long queues at polling stations.
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According to data from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), more than 5.3 million voters were called to vote at 8,451 polling stations in the 1,595 polling stations across the country.
Despite the influx of Salvadorans to the polls, some polling stations recorded less than half of the voter turnout, as was the case with JRV in Santa Ana, Apopa and Moncagua.