The sanction is issued for the alleged violation of Article 70 of the Law on Political Parties which establishes the prohibition for the use of patriotic symbols in proselytizing propaganda.
The Supreme Electoral Court ordered the suspension of a New Ideas party spot to consider an alleged violation of Article 70, letter d, of the Political Parties Act which establishes a ban on the use of patriotic symbols in advertising or electoral propaganda.
The TSE has also ordered the start of an ex officio electoral sanctioning procedure and is ordering precautionary measures for the New Ideas party and its representatives.
The spot on which the resolution is issued was posted on Twitter by Mr. Xavier Zablah Bukele, president and legal representative of New Ideas. In the same use is made of the national flag.
“Preliminarily it is noted that the content of this video is intended to affect the intention to obtain electoral support for the political party New Ideas and in it patriotic symbols are used,” said the TSE in the order issued dated February 2, 2021.
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The electoral institute notes that failure to order the suspension of the transmission or broadcast of the video could constitute a violation “of the guarantee of free elections and the principle of fairness in the contest.”
He adds that electoral propaganda “by containing an element prohibited by law can unduly affect equity in the electoral contest and the regularity of the process,” for which an administrative process is initiated ex officio. sanctioning and it is communicated to the General Office of the public prosecutor of the Republic, guarantor of the legality of the process, so that in addition it verifies the fulfillment of the precautionary measures ordered by the court.
Within the measures, Xavier Zablah Bukele is ordered to remove the spot from his Twitter account, as well as the New Ideas party to refrain from using patriotic symbols in its electoral propaganda and to suspend the transmission on any television channel, signal of cable or digital medium that is guiding it.
The TSE also requests from the presidency of the Republic a detailed report on the production of the spot, contracts and period of transmission of the same, among others. It also orders the media to send a report within the same period of time on the due compliance with this resolution.
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