Officials ignore distance measures during the start of the election campaign News from El Salvador

While the Minister of Health, Francisco Alabí, advised the population not to lower their guard during the pandemic, the GANA and New Ideas parties started the campaign for the deputies without avoiding the crowds.

Candidates for MPs for the 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly and the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) The election campaign officially began this Sunday for the elections of February 28, 2021.

“According to article 81 of the Constitution, starting with this December 27, 2020, the electoral propaganda of the candidacies for deputies to Parlacen and the Legislative Assembly is legal. This period ends on February 24, 2021 (Art. 175 Electoral Code) “, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) reported through its social network twitter account.

SEE: Candidates for deputies can apply for the vote on December 27

EST President Dora Esmeralda de Barahona spoke last Wednesday about the start of the campaign and said that when proselytizing, candidates should take into account the recommendations already established and avoid congestion.

“There are recommendations that must be observed in harmony with what the Ministry of Health has established, such as organizing rallies in open spaces, regarding the visits that candidates will make to different municipalities, distance, use of masks, gel alcohol, etc. “, warned the president of the collegiate body.

However, despite TSE recommendations, Minsal itself and even the risk of contracting the virus, the GANA and New Ideas parties, which will run in the next legislative and municipal elections on February 28, have carried out massive political acts to start the campaign. .

The first was GANA, which organized a campaign launch event at the party’s national headquarters, starting at 10:00, according to publications on their social networks in this event, social distancing, because prevention measures were not observed. COVID-19.

At the event, MP Guillermo Gallegos reiterated the party’s support for the government. “Today GANA is a strong, big party that will mark an era in the next elections. We will continue to support the President of the Republic Nayib Bukele in the next legislature, “he said.

SEE ALSO: These are the positions that political parties will occupy in the vote for the 2021 elections

For his part, GANA President Nelson Guardado expressed his pride in leading this party. “We have 10 deputies in the Assembly and those who are in the election will all be victorious,” he said.
Likewise, the New Ideas party called on its members to concentrate on various departments and do what they called a “cyan caravan,” where there was a crowd.

In this sense, the ARENA party did not organize the traditional opening event of the campaign in Izalco as in previous years; however, on Sunday morning, some party members attended a meal at a church in Sonsonate.

“Hand in hand with God, we have begun this electoral process. Due to the pandemic, we failed to fill the streets of Izalco with the colors of peace, progress and freedom, as was our historical tradition, but we attended a mass in the church of Dolores, “the ARENA party published in its official issue.

FMLN announced that the start of the campaign will coincide with its National Convention XXXIX, which was virtual and started at 8:00

“We are going with the decision to win and keep at least the number of deputies we have now and we aspire to grow a little more, but we are looking for the Legislative Assembly to maintain the balance of plurality, as it has done so far. We hope to continue to have a real impact on the country’s decisions, this is the aspiration for the transformation of El Salvador “, declared the congresswoman Nidia Díaz.

Despite the fact that the election campaign started legally this Sunday, several candidates have already carried out proselytizing activities in advance, in recent weeks billboards, posters and photo panels of candidates from various political parties were already visible on the streets of the country.

READ ALSO: Judge Guillermo Wellman: “In social networks you can proselytize the campaign”

Even the Supreme Electoral Tribunal has studied several cases of campaigns conducted on social networks.
According to the EST calendar, the election campaign for mayors will start in a month, ie on January 27. The electoral list for 2021 will be 5,389,017 Salvadorans eligible to vote.