By: Daniel Nardini
In a landmark decision of the Salvadoran Supreme Court, the court ruled that the Christian Democratic Party and the National Conciliation Party no longer had enough votes nor party members to be on the ballot for national elections and so they must disband. The ruling cannot be appealed. The decision has changed the whole political situation in El Salvador. Until 2005, these two parties had held control of the state during critical periods of El Salvador’s history in the middle to late 20th Century.
The National Conciliation Party, formed in 1961, was a right-wing party favored by the Salvadoran military and through which military members obtained office through elections up to 1977. The Christian Democratic Party, formed in 1960, was also a right-wing party that had been influential in El Salvador’s politics. The Christian Democrats had military and upper class families within its ranks, and it was the party that had been responsible for the military coup in 1979 that set off El Salvador’s ten year civil war. The Christian Democrats would dominate the Salvadoran government from 1982 until 1989.
The brutal atrocities and reign of terror by both parties were never forgotten by the Salvadoran people. After 1990, these two parties were losing power and influence while the left-wing party the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front—the party that fought against the Salvadoran military during the civil war—has been gaining momentum. Ironically, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front has been able to win not only in succeeding national elections but also won the presidency in 2009. The only opposition they face is the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance. The Nationalist Republican Alliance was founded by the virulent anti-communist Roberto D’Aubuisson in 1981.
It is ironic that the parties that were the cause of the civil war have now been consigned to history, while the two parties that are a product of that civil war—the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and the Nationalist Republican Alliance—are now the major parties left to carry on the political fight.
End of An Era in El Salvador
By: Daniel Nardini
In a landmark decision of the Salvadoran Supreme Court, the court ruled that the Christian Democratic Party and the National Conciliation Party no longer had enough votes nor party members to be on the ballot for national elections and so they must disband. The ruling cannot be appealed. The decision has changed the whole political situation in El Salvador. Until 2005, these two parties had held control of the state during critical periods of El Salvador’s history in the middle to late 20th Century.
The National Conciliation Party, formed in 1961, was a right-wing party favored by the Salvadoran military and through which military members obtained office through elections up to 1977. The Christian Democratic Party, formed in 1960, was also a right-wing party that had been influential in El Salvador’s politics. The Christian Democrats had military and upper class families within its ranks, and it was the party that had been responsible for the military coup in 1979 that set off El Salvador’s ten year civil war. The Christian Democrats would dominate the Salvadoran government from 1982 until 1989.
The brutal atrocities and reign of terror by both parties were never forgotten by the Salvadoran people. After 1990, these two parties were losing power and influence while the left-wing party the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front—the party that fought against the Salvadoran military during the civil war—has been gaining momentum. Ironically, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front has been able to win not only in succeeding national elections but also won the presidency in 2009. The only opposition they face is the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance. The Nationalist Republican Alliance was founded by the virulent anti-communist Roberto D’Aubuisson in 1981.
It is ironic that the parties that were the cause of the civil war have now been consigned to history, while the two parties that are a product of that civil war—the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and the Nationalist Republican Alliance—are now the major parties left to carry on the political fight.