SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Once dominant forces in Salvadoran politics, the ARENA and FMLN parties are facing near-total rejection from the electorate, according to a new CID Gallup poll that signals their potential political extinction.
The Costa Rica-based polling firm released its latest findings this month, revealing that both ARENA and the FMLN currently hold just 4% of electoral preference among Salvadorans.
VAMOS, another opposition party, failed to register any significant support in the survey, with respondents not mentioning it at all.
Luis Haug, general manager of CID Gallup, said the continued collapse of support reflects a trend that began in 2019.
“Since 2019, there has been a significant decline in ARENA and FMLN, with neither reaching more than three or four percent,” Haug said in an interview on the television program Face to Face.
He warned that if the trend persists, both parties may soon disappear from El Salvador’s political landscape.
The 2024 elections cemented the parties’ decline. ARENA and the FMLN failed to mount a serious challenge in the presidential race and performed poorly in legislative and municipal contests.
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The left-wing political party failed to gain a single legislative seat, while ARENA secured just two—the lowest combined total since the civil war ended.
“Ten years ago, they were the two parties that dominated the country’s political landscape,” Haug noted, emphasizing how far they have fallen from influence.
The VAMOS political party was not mentioned in the CID Gallup survey. The party won a legislative seat in the 2021 elections and retained it in the 2024 elections.
El Salvador is scheduled to hold its next legislative and municipal elections in February 2027, followed by presidential elections in 2029.
The latest data suggests that unless significant changes occur, the traditional parties play little to no role in those contests.
