Campaigning Opens

Campaigning officially begins in January 2006 for the March elections, in which voters will choose 84 deputies for the legislative assembly, 262 mayors and 20 members of the Central American parliament, Parlacen. An estimated 3.5m voters are registered, although participation in mid-term elections in El Salvador is generally low. In the last mid-term elections in 2003, 65% of those eligible to vote did not bother to turn out, although participation was much higher in the 2004 presidential vote. The main political contenders have been trading mutual accusations ahead of the official campaign: the governing Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, ARENA, has

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