Salvadoran Electoral Reforms Regarded as Illegal
Opposition Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) reiterated Friday that the recent modifications to the El Salvador electoral code would remove legitimacy and transparency from the 2006 elections.

The reforms, approved by the government on November 4 with the support of the governing party (Nationalist Republican Alliance -ARENA) were regarded by FMLN deputy Walter Duran as illegal.

Duran said this decree marginalizes the FMLN and Cambio Democratico Party from their right to be part of the voting boards for the March 12 elections, in which 84 deputies and 262 mayors will be chosen nationally.

The Electoral Supreme Court (TSE), with a majority of magistrates close to the government, will be able to make any decision by only three votes, and not by five, as before.

The new modifications give TSE president Walter Araujo an advantage in management decisions.

FMLN, the second largest Salvadoran political force, will request international institutions to send observers to the elections to avoid fraud.