El Salvador's ruling alliance shows slight lead in elections
 Initial results showed that El Salvador's ruling alliance has gathered 39.4 percent of the votes in parliamentary elections, slightly ahead of the main opposition with 39.1 percent, the electoral court said Monday in the capital San Salvador.

According to the initial results, the ruling Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) will take 33 seats in the 84-seat parliament, while the the biggest opposition Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) is to occupy 32.

The results came after 87.07 percent of the votes have been counted, the court said, adding that the rest 12.93 percent turnedout to be illegible for the computers.

Official results will be available within this week, the court said.

Meanwhile, the campaign for municipal seats saw the hottest contest in the capital, with preliminary results showing Rodrigo Samayoa of ARENA winning 44.96 percent of the votes and FMLN candidate Violeta Menjivar garnering 44.95.

Both candidates have declared victory in the mayoral race but neither was accepted by the electoral court, which is authorized to announce the final result.