President Nayib Bukele’s New Ideas party and its ally, the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA, led by Mr. Nelson Guardado, see note), won a two-thirds majority in the 84-member Legislative Assembly, thereby enabling them to appoint the attorney general and 5 of the 15 judges at the Supreme Court of Justice. The National Republican Alliance (ARENA, the largest party in the outgoing legislature) and its allies took a total of 13 seats. The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN, the second largest party of the previous legislature) won only four seats. On 1 May, the newly elected Legislative Assembly held its first session. It voted to remove from office the Attorney General and five Supreme Court judges.

Note:
Thirty-nine-year-old President Bukele, a former member of the FMLN, was elected President in 2019 under GANA’s ticket, promising to root out corruption and tackle rampant gang violence. GANA had been formed in 2010 by former members of ARENA. Mr. Bukele is the first president in El Salvador who does not belong to the FMLN or ARENA, the two traditional parties which have dominated the country’s politics until recently.