Ottawa, 19 March 2014 – After carrying out due process as stipulated by Salvadoran electoral law, on Monday, 17 March, the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) confirmed the conclusions from the 9 March preliminary electoral results and the 13 March final vote tally scrutiny and declared the FMLN’s Salvador Sánchez Cerén and Óscar Ortiz President-elect and Vice-President-elect, respectively.

SalvAide congratulates the Salvadoran people for this peaceful democratic exercise and joins the Organization of American States, the United Nations, the European Union and the vast majority of other international observer missions (including the CIS mission of which SalvAide was a part) in recognizing the transparency and validity of the electoral process and its results.

SalvAide also reiterates its strong condemnation of the irresponsible and anti-democratic declarations made by senior ARENA party leaders, including the defeated presidential candidate, Norman Quijano, discrediting the authority of the TSE, inciting ARENA supporters to violence, and making references to military intervention in the electoral process. We further urge ARENA’s leadership to accept the free and fair electoral outcome and to refrain from the destabilization tactics it has promoted since 9 March.

As the current President Mauricio Funes administration meets with the government-in-waiting of President-elect Salvador Sánchez Cerén to plan the transition up to 1 June, SalvAide continues to call for, among many other social justice initiatives, the continuation and implementation of public policies that promote greater gender equity; that more equitably redistribute wealth; that guarantee the basic rights to health, education, and security; that provide viable economic opportunities to Salvadoran youth; that say “no” to metal mining; and that prioritize the interests of the vast majority of historically marginalized Salvadorans. As always, we will continue to accompany the Salvadoran people’s long and admirable struggle for a more just and prosperous El Salvador.