Salvadoran Military Denies Right Wing’s Charges That It Took Sides in Elections

The Salvadoran political right-wing accused the country’s armed forces of taking sides in the national election last weekend, which the Christian Democratic Party says it won, but the military hotly rejected the charge Wednesday.

A coalition of rightist parties, led by firebrand Roberto D’Aubuisson, has petitioned the country’s Central Elections Council to annul the entire National Assembly and municipal balloting on charges of fraud. The rightists, in presenting their charges late Tuesday, also accused the military of throwing its significant weight against their effort to void the election.

During a press conference marked by unusual emotion, Gen. Carlos Vides Casanova, the nation’s defense minister, said that a “whim” of a losing party should not be permitted to overturn the “will of the people.”

“The armed forces never received any complaint or denouncement against the activities of its members,” Vides Casanova said. “The armed forces at every moment maintained itself within its limits.”

Vides Casanova, with some apparent ire, noted that 71 government soldiers have been killed since late February while clearing guerrillas away from voting zones. A new election, as demanded by the losing rightist coalition, “should not be undertaken lightly,” he said.

“It’s hard for a party to admit it lost,” Vides Casanova declared, adding, ‘We are making sacrifices on the battlefield and we can’t let the whim of each party call for repeated elections as if this was a game of cards.”

The fraud charges were unusual because they included not only military officials but also officials of President Jose Napoleon Duarte’s ruling Christian Democratic Party as well. Working together, the political right and the military have controlled past elections in El Salvador.

Report Is Denied

When word spread Wednesday that the rightists’ accusations included the armed forces, D’Aubuisson moved quickly to deny the reports.

“At no time do we directly mention the armed forces,” he said in a radio interview.

However, the complaint document he signed says the national police, a branch of the army, occupied the elections council office at the request of Christian Democrats. In addition, supplementary complaints accuse air force troops of forcing rightist poll watchers from their stations in a San Salvador suburb.

In all, the accusations include vote-buying, ballot box-stuffing, the use of government offices to pressure voters and threats on the life of right-wing party officials.

Although no official results have been announced, President Jose Napoleon Duarte claimed that his Christian Democrats have won 33 of 60 seats in the National Assembly. He based his claim on results collected from polling stations nationwide. Official results are not expected to be announced until late this week.

According to Duarte’s figures, D’Aubuisson’s Arena party won 13 seats while Arena’s rightist coalition partner, the National Conciliation Party, took 12 seats. Two minor parties split the remaining pair of seats.

The results presumably will give Duarte, who defeated D’Aubuisson in a runoff presidential election last year, the ability to push human rights and economic reforms blocked by the previous conservative majority.

Protests Threatened

On Wednesday, leaders of the Christian Democratic Party took the offensive against fraud charges. Jose Antonio Morales Ehrlich, the party’s general secretary threatened street demonstrations if the election challenge was upheld.

“The accusations are absurd. The people won’t put up with it. They will be ready to defend their victory,” said Morales. “We are preparing mobilizations and will take to the streets if the vote is annulled.”

The elections council overseeing the vote consists of three members: one each from Arena party, the National Conciliation Party and the Christian Democratic Party.

The council has three days to rule on the challenge and there is no appeal of its decisions.

The National Conciliation Party’s devotion to the D’Aubuisson cause was thrown into question Wednesday by a split in its ranks. Party leaders announced that the decision to join the complaint was taken unilaterally by Raul Molina, the general secretary of the party, without the consent of the party directorate.

The attitude of the armed forces is considered critical in resolving the dispute. Defense Minister Vides Casanova said that the military would step in if a constitutional deadlock developed or if some party broke the law.