Derechos de autor de la imagen Getty Images Image caption Bukele celebró su victoria este domingo en las elecciones presidenciales junto a su candidato a vicepresidente, Félix Ulloa.

El candidato de la conservadora Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional (GANA), Nayib Bukele, venció este domingo en las elecciones presidenciales de El Salvador.

Con un 87,67% de las actas procesadas, Bukele logró el 53,8% de los apoyos frente al 31,6% de la coalición liderada por la derechista Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) y el 13,7% del izquierdista Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN).

Según el Tribunal Supremo Electoral de El Salvador, estos datos provisionales marcan "una tendencia definitiva".

Este resultado superior al 50% descarta que Bukele, quien partía como claro favorito según todas las encuestas, deba acudir a una segunda vuelta electoral.

Su victoria supone un hito en la historia del país centroamericano, ya que rompe con el bipartidismo y la alternancia en el poder de la izquierda y derecha tradicional que gobernaron en los últimos 30 años.

"Hoy ganamos en primera vuelta e hicimos historia. Hemos sumado más votos que ARENA y el FMLN juntos (...). Hemos pasado la página de la posguerra. Invito a todos los salvadoreños a celebrar la victoria frente al bipartidismo", dijo Bukele en su primera comparecencia ante la prensa en la noche del domingo.

Tanto el candidato de ARENA, Carlos Calleja, como el del FMLN, Hugo Martínez, reconocieron la victoria de Bukele en las urnas.

Derechos de autor de la imagen Getty Images Image caption Carlos Calleja, el candidato de ARENA, deseó suerte a su rival Bukele tras reconocer su victoria y anunció que regresaría a su labor en la empresa privada.

"El candidato del cambio"

Bukele, empresario de 37 años y exalcalde de San Salvador bajo las siglas del FMLN del que fue expulsado en 2017, participó en esta campaña como candidato de la derechista GANA, salpicada por conocidos casos de corrupción.

El político, quien se presentó como "el candidato del cambio" y evita ser encasillado en una ideología de izquierda o derecha, deberá lidiar con una Asamblea de diputados controlada por la oposición para tratar de hacer frente a los grandes problemas que afectan a El Salvador.

Derechos de autor de la imagen AFP Image caption Bukele, que estuvo acompañado por su esposa durante la celebración del triunfo con miles de seguidores, evita ser encasillado como alguien de izquierda o derecha.

La población identifica como sus principales preocupaciones la corrupción, la pobreza y falta de empleo que obligan a miles de personas a abandonar el país cada año y la alta tasa de homicidios de un país considerado entre los más violentos del mundo.

"Este movimiento no es de nosotros, es del pueblo salvadoreño y ustedes pueden hacer con él lo que ustedes quieran", dijo Bukele a medianoche en un discurso ante miles de seguidores que celebraban su victoria.

"A partir de mañana nos toca a todos empezar a construir El Salvador que todos queremos", anunció, a la vez que dijo que ese país no depende de un presidente o de una cartera de ministros sino de "la conciencia de cada salvadoreño que quiera tener un país mejor".

Bukele volvió a hablar de la creación de una Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en El Salvador ya anunciada en campaña, similar a las que ya funcionan en Guatemala y Honduras y que lograron destapar importantes casos de corrupción de políticos.

Derechos de autor de la imagen AFP Image caption Bukele prometió ante miles de personas la creación de una Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en El Salvador.

Sobre sus intenciones en torno a posibles pactos o alianzas en el futuro, Bukele no ofreció demasiadas pistas y solo se refirió a la creación de un entorno que propicie la gobernabilidad con el resto de fuerzas políticas, aunque mantuvo un tono crítico con quienes denominó en campaña "los mismos de siempre".

"Vamos a construir el mejor gobierno de la historia de nuestro país", concluyó.

"El bipartidismo nos tenía encerrados"

La celebración del triunfo de Bukele se extendió hasta bien entrada la noche por una multitud de seguidores que se reunió en el centro histórico de San Salvador, una zona que precisamente fue restaurada mientras Bukele fue alcalde de la capital.

Derechos de autor de la imagen Marvin Romero Image caption La Plaza Morazán fue el escenario escogido por los seguidores de Bukele para celebrar su victoria.

El periodista Marvin Romero informó que muchos de los jóvenes que asistieron a la la Plaza Morazán vestían los colores del partido GANA, algunos con pedazos de tela en sus cabezas simulando ser turbantes en referencia a la ascendencia árabe-musulmana de Bukele que fue criticada por algunos detractores en campaña.

"Me siento feliz porque por fin rompimos con este bipartidismo que nos tenía encerrados", le dijo a BBC Mundo Jason Alfaro mientras bailaba y gritaba al ritmo de la música.

"Esta es una victoria para los que le fallaron a El Salvador, a los que ya nadie les creía", dijo José Hernández, quien asistió a la celebración junto a toda su familia.

Derechos de autor de la imagen Marvin Romero Image caption Jason Alfaro celebró junto a sus hermanos el triunfo de Nayib Bukele en las elecciones.

La jornada electoral del domingo, a la que estaban llamadas a participar más de 5,2 millones de personas, estuvo marcada por la tranquilidad y la ausencia de incidentes relevantes.

Estas elecciones fueron las sextas que se celebran en El Salvador desde que terminó la guerra civil (1980-1992), que dio paso a tres gobiernos consecutivos de ARENA seguidos de dos del FMLN, actualmente en el poder.

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Omitir publicación de Youtube número 2 de BBC News Mundo Advertencia: El contenido de sitios externos y terceras partes puede contener publicidad Final de la publicación de Youtube número 2 de BBC News Mundo</s>San Salvador, El Salvador- Nayib Bukele has declared victory in El Salvador's presidential elections after preliminary results showed him defeating the candidates of the two traditional parties that have long dominated the country's polarised politics.

"At this moment, we can announce with complete certainty that we have won the presidency of El Salvador in the first round," the 37-year-old, a former San Salvador mayor, told a press conference on Sunday evening.

"We made history," added Bukele, calling supporters to celebrate in Morazan Plaza in San Salvador's historic centre, one of the flagship revitalisation projects during his tenure as mayor of the capital.

With 99 percent of votes counted, Bukele was leading the race with 53 percent, exceeding the 50 percent threshold required to avoid a runoff.

His main rival, Carlos Calleja, of the conservative Nation Republican Alliance (ARENA), was second with 31.8 percent.

Ex-Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez, of the ruling left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), trailed in at third place with 14.4 percent.

The new president will take office on June 1 for a five-year term.

Raquel Caballero, the human rights ombudswoman, told Al Jazeera that voting was smooth. "In general terms, the electoral process was carried out without incident," she said.

But Julio Olivo Granadino, the president of the electoral commission, told reporters that a press conference held by Bukele two hours before the closing of the polls, in which he urged voters to cast their ballots, marked a "clear" election campaigning violation.

Security and jobs

Bukele, previously a member of the left-wing FMLN, ran on a ticket with the right-wing GANA, an offshoot of ARENA.

In the lead-up to the vote, which was held against a backdrop of public disillusionment following several high-level corruption scandals, Bukele repeatedly lambasted the political class as corrupt and thieving.

Three out of four of the country's most recent presidents - from ARENA and the FMLN - have been investigated for embezzling millions from public coffers. Bukele also faces an investigation for possible tax evasion.

Bukele proposed setting up an internationally backed anti-impunity mission to combat corruption and promised voters he would create a "compact and efficient" government that used "big data" to solve problems.

For his part, Calleja, a United States-educated business executive whose family owns El Salvador's largest supermarket chain, campaigned on a platform of employment creation. A newcomer to politics, Calleja pledged to generate 300,000 jobs and run a government that interacted closely with the people.

The FMLN's Martinez, meanwhile, ran on a six-point platform of job creation, health, education, security, environmental protection and support for Salvadorans abroad.

"The most important [issue] is the insecurity," says Mario Leiba, 50, a long-time ARENA supporter who served in the army during the country's 12-year civil war that ended in 1992.

"I don't see a concrete response - they all promise the same thing. The question is whether they will fulfill (their promises)."

Top priorities

Last year, the country's murder rate dropped to 50 per 100,000 people, the lowest rate since a truce between rival gangs - covertly facilitated by the government - broke down in 2013. But while homicide numbers have dipped, reports of missing people have been on the rise in recent years.

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In addition to the dire security situation, the new government will inherit an ailing economy and an increasingly hostile attitude from Washington.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut aid to El Salvador, as well as neighbouring Honduras and Guatemala, over a steady outpouring of migrants heading north, which he says the region's governments have failed to contain.

A majority of Salvadorans believe their country's relationship with the US is deteriorating, according to a recent poll by the Centre for Citizen Studies.

"Insecurity, lack of jobs - that's why the [migrant] caravans are leaving," said Elgar Gonzalez, a 44-year-old delivery driver.

"The country is considered one of the most dangerous [in the world]. The government needs to deal with this," added Gonzalez.

During his time as San Salvador's mayor from 2015 to 2018, Bukele captured international attention as a millennial leader with a knack for social media and a plan to revitalise a city notorious for its gang violence.

His mayorship was marked by high approval ratings and is mostly remembered for remodelling public spaces in the historic city centre.

"It would be good if he [Bukele] continues the same pattern he had as mayor," said Gonzalez, who voted for Bukele. "Because he worked maybe not 100 percent but we saw [results from] what he did."

For another Bukele supporter, 29-year-old Camila Portillo, the new government's top priorities should include "eradicating corruption" and "being more inclusive of vulnerable communities".

'Different from traditional'

Alvaro Artiga, professor of political science at the Jose Simeon Canas Central American University, said Bukele's anti-establishment message struck a chord with the dissatisfied electorate - young voters, in particular.

"He presents himself as different from the traditional," said Artiga.

But without an established party, a Bukele administration would face steep challenges.

ARENA holds the largest bloc in the legislature, with 37 seats. It is followed by the FMLN, which has 23.

GANA and another smaller party Bukele allied with together hold 11 seats, while other parties control a total of 13 seats.

"He needs to strengthen his party," Artiga said of Bukele's likely political priority to seek gains in the 2021 legislative elections. "The only way to do that is by adopting measures with some popularity."

"In this sense, it could be that he continues with many of the [FMLN] programmes. But as he has promised a train along the coast, four new hospitals, a new airport - he will have to do some of that," Artiga said.

"The problem is whether he will be able to do it given the fiscal restrictions."

In addition to a stagnant economy, El Salvador struggles with steep public debt at 70 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the World Bank.

María Teresa Martinez, a 65-year-old Bukele supporter, said she was concerned about her eight grandchildren's future.

"There's no work for the youth, the new government needs to address this. When there's work, there’s more development."</s>A candidate of Palestinian origin, Nayib Bukele, won Sunday’s presidential election in El Salvador, clinching over 50 percent of the vote, according to the country’s official electoral board.

According to preliminary results (with nearly 90 percent of ballots counted), Bukele, 37, won almost 54 percent of the vote, the electoral board announced late Sunday.

By winning a majority of ballots cast, Bukele, who ran for the center-right Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), avoided a runoff poll slated for March.

Carlos Callejas of the center-right Nationalist Republican Alliance won around 32 percent of the vote, while Hugo Martinez of the center-left-leaning Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) won nearly 14 percent of the vote, according to the board.

Businessman Josue Alvarado, meanwhile, reportedly won less than 1 percent of ballots cast.

According to estimates, roughly one third of El Salvador’s approximately 6.5 million people live below the poverty line.

Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing poor living conditions in El Salvador have reportedly joined recent migrant caravans en route to the U.S.

A former mayor of capital San Salvador, Bukele is of Palestinian descent. His father was a prominent businessman and a local imam.

He traces his origin back to a family that immigrated to the Central American country from Palestine at the beginning of the 20th century.

A businessman himself, Bukele served as mayor of San Salvador’s southern Nuevo Cuscatlan municipality in 2012. Three years later, he became the mayor of San Salvador.

Bukele’s election campaign included promises to fight corruption and end gang violence.

This article has been adapted from its original source.</s>A youthful former mayor of the capital easily won El Salvador’s presidency, getting more votes than his three rivals combined to usher out the two parties that dominated politics for a quarter century in the crime-plagued Central America nation.

The Supreme Electoral Court declared Nayib Bukele the winner late Sunday, saying he had nearly 54 percent of the votes, with about 90 percent of ballots counted. Carlos Callejas of the Nationalist Republican Alliance ended in a distant second at less than 32 percent, while even farther back were former Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez of the currently governing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and a minor party candidate.

By surpassing the 50 percent threshold, Bukele won outright and avoided the need for a March runoff against the No. 2 finisher.

Bukele claimed victory even before the formal announcement of his win, inviting a jubilant crowd in the capital of San Salvador to celebrate in the streets.

“This is a victory for the Salvadoran public, really,” Bukele said to cheers.

Supporters celebrate after Great National Alliance candidate Nayib Bukele won the presidential election in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Feb. 3, 2019.Marvin Recinos / AFP – Getty Images

All four candidates promised to end corruption, stamp out gang violence and create more jobs, with crushing crime at the top of the agenda, but Bukele’s campaign resonated more with his countrymen and polls had pointed to him as the strong front-runner going into the election. Roughly 67,000 Salvadorans belong to gangs that terrorize their communities with extortion, murder and other forms of violence.

The candidates proposed creating economic opportunities and restoring social values to dissuade Salvadorans from engaging in criminal behavior.

El Salvador is small both in size and population, with just 6.5 million people. Close to a third of its households live in poverty, while the World Bank says per capita income is $3,560. Salvadorans searching for a better life have joined recent caravans of migrants trekking across Mexico hoping to reach the U.S.

Bukele, 37, made his political debut in 2012 as a small-town mayor with the FMLN and won election in the capital three years later, automatically making him a potential presidential contender. But his frequent criticism of the leftist party’s leadership got him expelled, and he ran for the presidency as the unlikely standard-bearer for the small, conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity, whose initials — GANA — mean “win” in Spanish.

The FMLN and the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance, known as ARENA, had dominated El Salvador’s politics since a 1992 peace deal ended a vicious civil war. But both parties have been stained by corruption scandals and neither has been able to stem gang violence.

“I came to vote because I want the country to change, because we are tired of so much corruption,” said one voter, Estela Henriquez, at a polling place in the capital.

More than 4,500 election observers, including representatives of the Organization of American States and the European Union, were on hand. There were no reports of major problems in voting.</s>SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AFP) — Nayib Bukele, former San Salvador mayor, was on Sunday elected president of El Salvador — crushing a two-party system in place since civil war ended in 1992.

With his sharp beard and youthful wardrobe — jeans, leather jackets and often a baseball cap — the 37-year-old put opponents from the country’s two largest parties out of style.

The Salvadoran election authority awarded him 53.78 percent of votes with 87.67 percent counted — while Carlos Calleja of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) won 31.62 percent, and Hugo Martinez of the leftist Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) took 13.77 percent.

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Bukele — a favorite in the polls throughout the campaign — ran for the small, conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), which welcomed him after he was expelled from the FMLN, a party formed by demobilized guerrilla groups.

Nicknamed “the swallow” after his current party’s logo, Bukele — who is of Palestinian descent — first inherited affiliation to the FMLN from his family, which hid clandestine guerrilla leaders during the Salvadoran civil war.

In 2012, he was elected mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlan, a suburb of San Salvador, under the FMLN’s banner.

Three years later, he become mayor of the capital — and stayed in that position until 2018. However, following an altercation with a municipal councilor, he was expelled from the FMLN in 2017.

As he embarked on the road to the presidency, his renovation of the capital had already won the hearts of the Salvadoran youth — and he proved very effective on social media.

During his campaign, he targeted corruption among the old guard — and proclaimed “there is enough money” for all Salvadorans “when nobody is stealing.”

But as president he faces several great challenges — among them the gang violence that has ravaged El Salvador.

And to address the country’s issues, he will first need to form an alliance with the right-wing opposition that dominates congress.</s>Hugo Martinez from the left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN); businessman Carlos Calleja from the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA); former mayor of the country's capital, Nayib Bukele from the conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA); and Josue Alvarado from the centrist Vamos party are running for presidency.

Incumbent President Salvador Sanchez Ceren cannot run for a second consecutive term under the country's legislation.

Around 1,600 polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time (from 13:00 to 23:00 GMT). Over 5.2 millions citizens have registered to vote. Security measures will be enhanced, with the country's police, Armed Forces, and prosecution being in charge of it.

READ MORE: El Salvador Court Sentences Former President Antonio Saca to 10-Year Jail Term

To win in the first round, a candidate must secure over 50 percent of the vote. Otherwise, a run-off will be held on 10 March, with two top candidates facing each other. In El Salvador, the president is elected for a five-year period.

Bukele is reportedly an active social media user who wants to modernize the local government, introduce infrastructure projects and push reforms to tackle country's economic issues.

READ MORE: US Govt Financed El Salvador Police Units Accused of Illegal Execution – Reports

Bukele has studied law at Jose Simeon Canas Central American University but reportedly left before getting a degree.

El Salvador's last six presidents have come from either ARENA or FMLN parties.</s>Nayib Bukele, the former mayor of San Salvador, claimed victory Sunday in El Salvador's presidential election.

He told his cheering supporters that he had won a majority of the ballots, enabling him to avoid a runoff vote in March.

"At this moment we can announce with total certainty that we have won the presidency," Bukele told the crowd.

Former Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez of the ruling FMLN party has admitted defeat. Unofficial vote totals showed him in third place.

The Associated Press reported earlier that Bukele had almost 53 percent of the votes with more than two-thirds of the ballots counted.

Polls leading up to the election favored Bukele.

​All four candidates promised the same things to voters, including more economic opportunities and efforts to tackle gangs and crime. El Salvador has one of the world's highest murder rates.

But Bukele, who has always considered himself to be a liberal, has been critical of the ruling leftists. He ran as a candidate with the newly-formed conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity.

Two parties -- the left-leaning FMLN and conservative ARENA party -- have dominated Salvadoran politics since the end of the civil war in 1992.

But neither party has been able to successfully neutralize gangs or revitalize the economy.

Many voters say both traditional parties are corrupt and change is needed.

About a third of Salvadorans live in poverty.

Many Salvadorans joined the Central American caravans to the U.S. - Mexican border to seek a better life in the United States.</s>A former mayor Nayib Bukele swept to victory in El Salvador’s presidential election on Sunday, bringing an end to a two-party system that has held sway over the violence-plagued Central American country for three decades.

Bukele, the 37-year-old former mayor of the capital, San Salvador, who campaigned on an anti-corruption agenda, won 54 percent of votes with returns counted from 88 percent of polling stations, said Julio Olivo, the head of the electoral tribunal.

Bukele won more votes than all other candidates combined in his first-round sweep, highlighting deep voter frustration over the failure of the two main parties to tackle violence and corruption.

“This day is historic for our country. This day El Salvador destroyed the two-party system,” Bukele told hundreds of Salvadorans who danced, waved flags and blew whistles in a San Salvador plaza that Bukele revitalised when he was mayor from 2015 to 2018.

His two rivals from the mainstream political parties conceded defeat.

Bukele must now contend with U.S. President Donald Trump’s frequent threats to cut aid to El Salvador – as well as neighbouring Guatemala and Honduras – if they do not do more to curb migration to the United States.

At home, supporters hope that a third-party politician will usher in changes to improve a sluggish economy and widespread poverty.

“Let’s see if he can do what he’s promised for us,” said a jubilant supporter, Baltazar Sanchez, 30, at Bukele’s victory speech.

“After 30 years of two parties, we’ve been dealt the best hand.”

Gang violence has made tiny El Salvador one of the world’s most murderous countries in the past few years, driving Salvadorans to flee to the north.

Among his campaign promises, Bukele, an avid social media user who snapped a selfie with supporters before declaring his win, said he would push infrastructure projects to limit such migration.

Since the end of its civil war in 1992, El Salvador has been governed by the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and its rival, conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).

Though he describes himself as from the left and was expelled from the FMLN, Bukele has formed a coalition including a right-wing party that together has just 11 seats in the legislature, which consists of 84 people.

Outside the hotel in San Salvador where Bukele waited for the results, a group of supporters set off fireworks, beat drums and danced as early figures came in.

“Yes, we did it! Yes, we did it!” they chanted.</s>Presidential candidate Nayib Bukele, of the Grand Alliance for National Unity, center, his wife Gabriela, right, and the Vice-president candidate Felix Ulloa wave supporters in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019. Bukele, a youthful former mayor of the capital, easily won El Salvador's presidency, getting more votes than his three rivals combined to usher out the two parties that dominated politics for a quarter century in the crime-plagued Central America nation. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador's new president-elect won in resounding fashion, but breaking the three-decade hold on power of the country's two dominant parties means that Nayib Bukele will take office with few friends in congress.

The 37-year-old former mayor has an ambitious agenda, topped by a vow to root out corruption. To accomplish that and many other campaign promises, Bukele will have to find allies who can help.

Bukele won with more than 53 percent of the votes Sunday, topping three rivals. But GANA — the Grand Alliance for National Unity party that he carried to victory — has only 10 seats in the legislature, well short of the 43 votes needed to pass laws.

"This new government is going to be weak," said Alvaro Artiga, a professor of political science and sociology at the Jose Simeon Canas Central American University. "It's that institutionally it doesn't have legislative support."

The outgoing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, government had a difficult time of it as a minority presence in the Legislative Assembly, and it had 23 of the 84 seats.

And Bukele's promise to establish a commission to investigate official corruption modeled on a U.N.-backed effort in Guatemala is unlikely to win him friends among the FMLN or the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance, or ARENA. That party itself has 37 deputies and its allied parties have 12 more.

Bukele will need to send a message immediately through his cabinet picks that it won't be business as usual, and avoid cronyism, Artiga said. "It can't be the friends, the relatives, all that he has accused the usual suspects of," he said.

"He can't repeat that, because people voted as a rejection," Artiga said. Bukele will start his five-year term June 1.

El Salvador is small both in size and population, with just 6.5 million people. Close to a third of its households live in poverty, and Salvadorans searching for a better life have joined recent caravans of migrants trekking across Mexico hoping to reach the U.S.

Bukele rose quickly through the ranks of the FMLN, a former guerrilla army that transformed itself into a political party after a 1992 peace deal ended the nation's civil war. He first won election as a youthful small-town mayor and then became mayor of San Salvador, the capital. But his persistent criticisms of FMLN leadership got him expelled from the party. Joining GANA — which has been a right-leaning party — was a last-minute move just to get on the ballot.

"It was always about the size of the resentment among the urban middle class toward the country's elites," said political analyst and former guerrilla commander Salvador Samayoa. "It was never that he was the best, most honest, most wholesome, most capable candidate."

Voters were tied of corruption, the lack of economic opportunities and the persistent violence.

"I voted, everybody in my family voted for Bukele because we're tired of these ARENA and FMLN governments that steal money," said 42-year-old Manuel Lopez as he headed to work Monday. "Nobody believes them."

"Two presidents from ARENA, Paco Flores, Tony Saca and one from FMLN, Mauricio Funes, have stolen everything they could," he said.</s>Former mayor Nayib Bukele on Sunday won El Salvador's presidential election, the Supreme Electoral Court said.

The Supreme Electoral Court dsaid Bukele had nearly 54 percent of the votes, with nearly 90 percent of ballots counted.

His biggest challenger, Carlos Callejas of the Nationalist Republican Alliance, was far behind in second with less than 32 percent, while even farther back were former Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and a minor party candidate.

"Today we won the first round and we made history," Bukele, said in a victory speech to cheering supporters. "We’ve turned the page on power."

Bukele, a 37-year-old former mayor of San Salvador, is the conservative Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) party candidate, and if he wins it will end almost 30 years of a two-party system.

All four candidates vowed to end corruption, stamp out gang violence and create more jobs, with cracking down on crime at the top of the agenda.

Since the end of its bloody civil war in 1992, El Salvador has been governed by either the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and its rival, conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).

"The two groups that created the war still want to keep governing, and what's more, they're corrupt," Bukele told reporters after voting in the capital.

Bukele made his political debut in 2012 as a small-town mayor with the current-ruling FMLN and won election in the capital three years later, automatically making him a potential presidential contender.
Former San Salvador mayor Nayib Bukele of the Grand Alliance for National Unity is elected President of El Salvador with over 50% of the ballots cast.