Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 24, 1991 TAG: 9103240046
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR LENGTH: Medium
Even so, the rightists retained the capacity to pass laws with the support of their parliamentary allies.
The Central Electoral Council announced Friday night that the conservative Republican Nationalist Alliance, or Arena, won 39 seats in the 84-seat legislature.
The one-house congress, called the Assembly of Deputies, was expanded from 60 seats by means of the election.
Arena has 32 seats in the outgoing legislature, which finishes its term April 30.
The rightist Party of National Conciliation, which formed a bloc with Arena in the outgoing Assembly, won nine seats, and another Arena ally - the Authentic Christian Movement - won one.
The Christian Democratic Party, which governed from 1984 through 1989, finished second in the election with 26 seats in the new legislature.
The left, which had no representation in the outgoing congress, made big strides. The Democratic Convergence, an alliance of three socialist parties, won eight seats. The Nationalist Democratic Union, a Marxist party, received one seat.
Although the Convergence received more votes than the Party of National Conciliation, the PCN won more seats under a complex apportionment formula.
Armando Calderon Sol, the secretary-general of Arena and the mayor of San Salvador, said his party would try to promote consensus in the new legislature.
"We don't plan on being a bulldozer pushing through legislation," he said.
In an interview with foreign reporters, he said the new congress, because of the representation of the left, could be a significant force in promoting an end to El Salvador's 11-year-old civil war.
Opposition parties had criticized the electoral council's vote canvass as fraudulent but decided to accept its final ruling in the congressional races.
by CNB