AFP, SAN SALVADORSalvadoreans on Sunday elected Nayib Bukele, the popular former mayor of San Salvador, as their nation’s new president — a result that ends the near 30-year grip on power of its two largest parties. “At this moment we can announce with total certainty that we have won the presidency,” the 37-year-old Bukele, of the conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity, told supporters late on Sunday. It went on to announce preliminary results gave Bukele an “irreversible” lead of 53.78 percent of votes with 87.67 percent counted. Outgoing Salvadorean President Salvador Sanchez Ceren said voting proceeded “very calmly and very normally.”About 23,000 police officers and 15,000 soldiers were deployed to protect the sixth presidential election since democracy was restored in 1992. Bukele has promised to increase investment in education and fight corruption, but his main task will be to implement new programs to confront insecurity.

Source: Taipei Times February 04, 2019 15:56 UTC