The Government in El Salvador

El Salvador is a presidential representative democratic republic in which the President acts as the head of the state and government, and of a multi-party system. It has 3 branches – the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary. Executive branch is composed of the president and vice-president which are both elected to the office through a general election every 5 years with no chance of being reelected. Antonio Saca and Ana Vilma de Escobar of the ARENA party hold the top positions in the country after the 2004 presidential election. The Legislative branch is represented by a unicameral national legislature with 84 members known as the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador. Members or deputies serve for 3 years with possibility of immediate reelection. Sixty four of the 84 seats are voted through a 14 multi-member constituencies (equivalent to the 14 departments) while 20 seats are chosen based on a single national constituency.

The leading political party in El Salvador is the National Republican Alliance (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista) party famously known as ARENA; it was established in 1982 by Major Robert D’Aubuisson. Other major political parties are the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (formed in 1992 whose members came from political groups of the wartime guerilla movement), National Conciliation Party, Christian Democratic Party, and Democratic Change.