Nayib Bukele has on Sunday declared victory in the presidential elections in El Salvador after the preliminary results that showed him defeating the presidential candidates of the two history-long traditional parties that have long dominated the nation’s polarized politics.
According to Al-Jazeera news reports, a former San Salvador mayor, in a press conference on Sunday’s evening, told reporters: “At this moment, we can announce with complete certainty that we have won the presidency of El Salvador in the first round.”
He added saying that “we made history”, calling upon his supporters to celebrate the fact in Morazan Plaza in the country’s historic center, one of the flagship revitalization projects during his tenure as mayor of the capital.
With about 87.67 percent of votes counted, Bukele was leading the election with around 53.78 percent of votes in his favor while exceeding the 50 percent of votes that requires to avoid a runoff.
Carlos Calleja, Bukele’s main rival from the conservative Nation Republican Alliance (ARENA) becomes the second one following Bukele with about 31.62percnet of votes in his favor.
Ex-foreign minister Hugo Martinez from the ruling left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) stepped up at the third position with about 13.77 percent votes.
The new president of the country will take office on June 1 for a period of five years.
The human right ombudswoman Raquel Caballero told Al-Jazeera news that voting has gone smooth. She added, “In general terms, the electoral process was carried out without incident.”
However, the president of the electoral commission Julio Olivo Granadino told reporters that the voting has marked a “clear” election campaigning violation.