Norman Quijano quits San Salvador mayor's race

Incumbent San Salvador mayor Norman Quijano has decided to withdraw from running for a third term.   Quijano, from the right wing ARENA party, was the party's presidential candidate earlier this year and lost in the second round of the presidential elections by a scant six thousand votes.  He has been the mayor of San Salvador since 2009.

In the announcement of his decision on Wednesday, Quijano simply stated that everything had its own cycle and it was time to close this cycle of his life.

ARENA party officials announced that Quijano would be one of the party's candidates in the 2015 elections for deputies in the National Assembly.

Former president Mauricio Funes speculated that Quijano must have been forced out of the race by ARENA party "oligarchy", and that the oligarchs wanted someone who would protect their particular interests.   

ARENA indicated it would name a new candidate for mayor of the country's largest city withing 10 days.  Ana Vilma de Escobar,  the country's vice president under Tony Saca, gave an interview to La Pagina where it was clear she would be happy to be asked by ARENA to run.

The new ARENA candidate will face Nayib Bukele, the popular young FMLN mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlan, and Walter Araujo for GANA.