Political surprises

A moderate FMLN?

Ever since the definitive results of the municipal elections were revealed, the FMLN adopted an unusual process. It has not only reaffirmed its wish to be the leading force of an alliance to take away the executive power from ARENA during the next elections, but it also has made a pact with the PCN in the Legislative Assembly. This pact is controversial for many people.

Many leaders from ARENA have expressed their disapproval about a pact that leaves them as orphans because it took away their most important alliance. They criticize an arrangement that they consider a failure because of the incompatibility of ideological characters of the FMLN and the PCN. ARENA cannot assimilate the fact that the PCN is participating in such “distasteful jokes”. In addition, the secret meetings between the PCN and the FMLN threaten to increase the price of the political auction for the next year. The members of ARENA understand that this is how they can undermine their possibilities for next year’s presidential elections.

The same lack of understanding comes from several opinion directors in this country. Many were amazed before the decision of the FMLN –its new connection with a party that has been accused many times for encouraging the institutional corruption in this country-. This is the case of several editorialists that do not see in that alliance anything but another example of the decadency of the national political parties. Many consider that the PCN is a contaminated case, and that it would be convenient to deal with it from afar and with tweezers. For some people, the pact between the FMLN and the PCN is an atypical and an undesirable case that goes against the need to clean the relations between the national political actors.

It is also evident how many of the sympathizers that the FMLN has do not understand the new sign of political pragmatism expressed by its leaders. It is true that for many people it is necessary to find a quick solution to the strike of the workers from the Salvadoran Institute of Social Security (ISSS, in Spanish) because it represents an attenuating circumstance. They do not stop wondering, however, what will happen with the new relation.

The different reactions about the pact between the FMLN and the PCN in the Legislative Assembly can be interpreted from several perspectives. In the first place, about the militants of the leading left-wing party, it can be said that they were used to be overlooked by the right-wing alliance. This condition allowed them to move with certain comfort to denounce and upbraid the decisions of the rest of the parties. In addition, they had a double advantage. They were able to consider themselves as the main victims of the right wing, while they insisted that they were not contaminated and that they were willing to rescue the country from the claws of corruption. This has been the basic strategy of the FMLN. The electoral results show that such behavior has generated good political results.

On the other hand, about the declarations of the leaders from ARENA, it would be convenient to mention the legitimate exasperation of those who see their old alliance depart. In this sense, it is understandable when they highlight the contradictions between the members of the new alliance. What worries ARENA is the political price that it will have to pay if it decides to fight to recuperate the favors of its old friends or to face the pact between the FMLN and the PCN as a reality.

In the first case, ARENA will have to improve its offer to the PCN. The leaders of the PCN are betting for a pre-electoral agreement and a higher level of control over other public institutions. In the second case –if ARENA decides to turn its back on the PCN- it will have to be prepared to face several consequences that might include, among other things, the loss of the first magistracy of the State during the next year. In this context, the deception that invades many of the congressmen from ARENA can be understood when they refer to the movements of the PCN.

In the case of the analysts who have chosen to upbraid the alliance, it would be convenient to examine its inconsistency. Many of them usually speak about the polarization of the relation between the different political parties as the main problem that troubles the national political life. If this is the case, they would have to explain to the public opinion how can they talk about moderation and discredit at the same time the rapprochement between the FMLN and the PCN. The argument about the corruption of the latter cannot be sustained any longer. On the one hand, this same argument cannot be sustained when they speak about the “natural” alliance between the PCN and ARENA. On the other, hand it would be possible to argue that it is not the duty of the FMLN to discriminate between the potable parties and those that are not –if we get far from the ideological criterion-, since the parties represented at the Legislative Assembly are there because of a popular command. Following this line, it is necessary to realize that the PCN is the party that has experienced a significant electoral growth during the last few years.

About the relation between the FMLN and the PCN, it is necessary to make an emphasis on the importance to abandon the attitude of an exorcist when it comes to discuss certain political projects. There where many people speak about the deterioration of the ethics between the parties, it would be convenient to reflect about the new signs of distension and political moderation that this alliance could bring. Without trying to give an immediate answer to this matter, it could be said that only during several occasions, ever since the Peace Agreements were signed, there have been signs of non-political approaches between the national political actors. The new pact between the FMLN and the PCN has this character, and it would be convenient to examine that fact in order to benefit the interests of the country’s system of parties. We are probably witnessing a slight moderation and the first steps to abandon the polarization strategy that has been constantly present in the relation between the political actors.

In this context, it is important to remember the past of the political actors. We cannot sacrifice over the altar of pragmatism the politicians’ need to explain their decisions. Even if the connection between the FMLN and the PCN can be the first step towards the moderation of the relation between the political actors, it should not bury the relation of the PCN with corruption and the censurable actions of many of its leaders, whose only objective seems to be their personal success. About this particular issue, there is no doubt that the FMLN has made a mistake. The FMLN is rushing into promoting the image of a moderate party that is willing to fulfill its electoral offer, and this attitude has led it to offer the direction of the Legislative Assembly in a silver platter to a controversial PCN.

In addition, the leaders of the FMLN, with their anti-governmental alliance strategy, have not been able to interpret or consider the interests of the small parties. It seems that the lack of sensibility about this issue has led them to level their force with the popular support obtained during the last elections. However, as it can be observed in the case of the triumph over the presidential vetoes, both of the small parties (the CDU and the PDC) are important political actors. In this sense, a first intelligent step would have been to make a better interpretation of the interests and the sensibility of its leaders. In addition, the left-wing party has to show a transparent attitude about its pact with the PCN because it cannot repeat the same mistakes that ARENA made.

The situation of women in the labor market

During the last few years, the possibility to find a job has become one of the most difficult tasks, and the working conditions have become considerably deteriorated. A wide portion of the population perceives that their life standards have experienced a continuous deterioration. Every day we can hear the expressions of many citizens who show their discontent for the high cost of living, the difficult access to credits, and the reduction of their real salaries. For the Salvadoran women, the formerly mentioned aspects are an everyday reality. In addition to the precarious economic conditions that they have to face, it is also necessary to consider the evident discrimination in favor of men.

From this perspective, it is important to consider that if we really expect to have a fair society, it is not enough to resolve the social and the political differences that constantly affect the citizenry. It is also necessary to act from a perspective in which men and women enjoy equal rights. As for the economic aspect, this means that we have to wonder how equal are women and men in terms of the salaries they make, their access to the labor market, the conditions inside the working space, and their family incomes, among other aspects.

The activity of the Salvadoran society in the last few years allows us to observe that, in many cases, women are the ones who bring the bread and butter home. In a way, the family disintegration process leads women to take over the situation of their homes, and that includes not only the emotional aspect but also the economic one. By 1998, 71.6% of the heads of the home were men and only 28.4% were women. In 2001, 67.7% were men, and the rest were women. It is important to observe that between 1998 and 2001 the growth rate of the heads of the home is very different in terms of gender. The number of heads of the home who were men increased in absolute terms to 38, 435, which is equivalent to a 4.0%.
However, the number of heads of the home who were women experienced a considerable increase. Speaking in absolute values, that number was 95, 630, which represented an increase of 25%. As it can be noticed, this information seems to indicate that more Salvadoran women become the heads of their home everyday. Therefore, it is interesting to understand that the number of families leaded by a woman keeps growing since inside the domestic environment it is the women who have the authority to make the decisions.

Women experience a series of difficulties to penetrate into the labor market. This has an important meaning if it is considered that a larger amount of women are the head of the home and, therefore, they are the providers. This means that the difficulties that women have to deal with, in order to find a decent job, eventually deteriorate a number of severe limitations to economically support a considerable number of Salvadoran families.
Even if the Economically Active Population (PEA, in Spanish) that is unemployed is mostly constituted by men, it is necessary to observe that inside this category the feminine participation is becoming more significant. If we examine the amounts of heads of the homes, we will see that five years ago 41,152 men were unemployed, while in 2001 there were 48,890 of them who went through the same situation. In 1998, the number of women who were the head of the home and were unemployed was 5,252. However, for 2001 this number increased to 10,747. According to this information, in terms of the heads of the home, between 1998 and 2001 the unemployed male PEA grew only by 18.8%, while the unemployed female PEA grew by 104.6%. As it is evident to see, it is more complicated for women to find a job.

In this context, it is easy to say, as the research has shown, that the societies with a high level of unemployed women experience what has been called “the female informal sector”. Between 1998 and 2001, in the urban sectors of the country, the level of informal employment for women grew by 20%, while the level of informal employment for men only increased by 14%. In this sense, it is necessary to say that “the employment level for women in the informal sector of the economy is increasing in relation to the employment level for men in that same sector” (See ECA, No. 621-622, 2000, page 743).

Even if a woman manages to find a job, it is very probable that the salary that she will earn will be much lower than the one of a man who performs the same tasks. During the last few years, the average monthly salaries have generated a gap in favor of men. During 1998, women earned $192.49, while men earned an average salary of $249.54.

By 2001, women earned an average monthly minimum salary of $206.12, while men earned an average salary of $268.52. During this period, the salary gap between both genders has increased. In 1998, the difference between the monthly salaries that men and women made was practically $57.14. By 2001, that difference was increased by $5.25, and so it became $62.39. The monthly average salary of men during this period increased higher than the average salary of women.

In the economic context, this salary-related disparity is always present, except for the women who work for the public sector, where they earn a better salary. However, it can be said that women in general are in a disadvantageous situation. This problem becomes even more critical if it is considered that the gap between the salaries of men and women remains steady even if both genders have the same level of education. This leads us to believe that there is a considerable part of professionals who are not equally remunerated due to a discrimination of genders.

As far as the labor conditions are concerned, men, in most of the cases, work in a better environment. To discuss this fact it is enough to take a look at the maquila industry, where, according to several studies, the following characteristics are present:
- More than 80% of the employees are women between 20 and 26 years of age.
- 50% of the women work approximately 47 hours per week, when 44 hours is the legal limit.
- Between 47% and 51% of the women suffer from respiratory allergies, which are worsened by the inadequate ventilation of the factories.
- 40% of the maquila industries report that the rights of the employees are disrespected, they are threatened to be fired, they are physically abused, and the salaries could be reduced (See The labor and the economic situation inside the maquilas of El Salvador: a gender analysis. CEPAL, May 2001).

By observing the formerly mentioned elements –a higher amount of women who are the head of their homes, how difficult it is for them to find a job, the existence of a gap between the average salary that men and women make (which favors the men), and the inadequate conditions of the working facilities for women-, it seems important that the government considers these aspects when it comes to design the different economic policies. These policies should be transformed into equitable working and economic conditions, in order to take an important step forward to attack the discrimination of genders that prevails in El Salvador.