Rivas Zamora withdraws from mayor race

Carlos Rivas Zamora, the popular FMLN mayor of San Salvador, announced today that he is withdrawing from the race for mayor and would not seek the FMLN spot in the 2006 elections. Rivas Zamora is aligned with the reformist wing of the FMLN, and his withdrawal reflects his dispute with the leadership of the party controlled by hard-line orthodox members aligned with Schafik Handal. Mayors in other cities who are associated with the reform wing have also announced that they will not run.

The FMLN leadership will back Violeta Menjivar as its candidate for mayor of San Salvador. Its insistence on Menjivar as the orthodox candidate for the party may cost the FMLN in the mayoral race. In a poll released today by the Institute for the Study of Public Opinion (IUDOP) at the University of Central America, Rivas Zamora was the leading candidate, preferred by 32.7% of those polled, while Menjivar could manage only 14% despite her public backing by the party.

Comments

David said…
This could be interesting. Polls didn't prove too accurate in the last election, because we were talking about personalities. At this point, Rivas Zamora is more well-known than Violeta, but Violeta is more well-known than Rivas was when he was elected.

Bottom line: FMLN may continue to hold the mayor's office, no matter who runs. Violeta's got a good, presentable personality, and doesn't say stupid things, as far as I've observed.

So unless Saca and ARENA are extremely popular come election time, I'd bet that FMLN continues to hold El Salvador.