01:21El Salvador: Former guerilla leader holds early presidential vote lead
El Salvador: Former guerilla leader holds early presidential vote lead
Polls closed in San Salvador Sunday evening, where former left-wing guerrilla leader Salvador Sanchez Ceren leads in early returns as El Salvador selects its president.
Sanchez Ceren, a top leader of the now-ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) during El Salvador's civil war, had 49.2 percent support with votes in from about 45.4 percent of polling places. Former San Salvador Mayor Norman Quijano is in second place with 38.9 percent. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the two leading candidates will have a run-off March 9.
The FMLN took power in 2009, and Sanchez Ceren's campaign focused extensively on welfare policies, including pensions and free school supplies. Quijano has focused on security, and said he wants to deploy the army to fight street gangs.
01:21El Salvador: Former guerilla leader holds early presidential vote lead
Polls closed in San Salvador Sunday evening, where former left-wing guerrilla leader Salvador Sanchez Ceren leads in early returns as El Salvador selects its president.
Sanchez Ceren, a top leader of the now-ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) during El Salvador's civil war, had 49.2 percent support with votes in from about 45.4 percent of polling places. Former San Salvador Mayor Norman Quijano is in second place with 38.9 percent. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the two leading candidates will have a run-off March 9.
The FMLN took power in 2009, and Sanchez Ceren's campaign focused extensively on welfare policies, including pensions and free school supplies. Quijano has focused on security, and said he wants to deploy the army to fight street gangs.