President of El Salvador Mauricio Funes assured today that elections to pick his successor were taking place in a peaceful manner, adding that there had been no «regretful incidents».
«The atmosphere is peaceful, we have not had any regretful incidents… there is no trouble,» Funes told journalists, as he placed his vote in the International Fairs and Conventions Centre in the nation’s capital San Salvador.
The outgoing head of state underlined that voting at this point has been regular,» while stating that the polls had only recently opened.
Funes predicted that participation «is going to be much more massive» than in 2009, when he won the presidency running for the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), and reiterated that the police and army would guarantee security during the electoral process.
The winner of today’s polls will succeed Funes on June 1, for a mandate that will run from 2014-19.
Out of the five candidates running, the favourites are FLMN’s Salvador Sánchez Cerén, and Norman Quijano, who represents right-wing opposition ARENA. According to opinion polls, the pair are likely to go to a run-off since neither is predicted to gain the 50 percent necessary to win outright.
Source: Buenos Aires Heald