El Salvador (Hansard, 31 March 1982)

§ 4. Mr. Frank Allaun
asked the Lord Privy Seal what reports he has so far received from the observers sent to the elections in El Salvador on 28 March.

§ Mr. Luce
We have not yet received a report from the United Kingdom observers.

§ Mr. Allaun
How can there be free elections when anti-junta candidates do not stand because they are afraid of being murdered and when voting is compulsory? Secondly, do the British Government intend to recognise the Right-wing extremists now in the saddle in El Salvador?

§ Mr. Luce
As I have said, we have not yet received the report of the two observers. They will return this week and report to my right hon. and noble Friend. Their report will then be published. I think that it would be sensible to wait and see what they have to say. That is why we sent them there—to see whether the elections were a valid test of opinion and to learn about the form in which they took place. On the first evidence, with more than 1 million people reported to have voted, we should be very cautious of insulting the people of that country who wish to use the ballot box rather than the gun.

§ Sir Anthony Kershaw
Although the result of the elections may not seem entirely satisfactory, does not the very large turnout show that there is a majority in El Salvador that favours the ballot rather than the bullet? Ought not the results of the elections to be respected both inside and outside El Salvador?

§ Mr. Luce
I very much appreciate what my hon. Friend has said, as I know that he has been in El Salvador with an all-party team. It appears from the first evidence that the poll has been high. I should have thought that anyone who believes in democracy would condemn those who use the gun to try to intimidate those who wish to use the ballot box.

§ Mr. Healey
Does the Minister agree that 1 million voters is well under half those of electoral age and that many of those who voted did so out of fear of being punished by the Government, because voting is compulsory? Does he further agree that, unfortunately, my predictions have proved true and the situation after the elections is infinitely more difficult? Does he also agree that the only alternative now to negotiations, as suggested by the Mexican President, is continuing suppression of the people by a Government in El Salvador who have no respect whatever for human rights and have indeed boasted of that fact?

§ Mr. Luce
I find it difficult to understand how the right hon. Gentleman, sitting in the House, can come to such sweeping conclusions at this stage. Surely it is more responsible to wait to hear what the observers have to say. Let us then read their conclusions and discuss them.

§ Mr. Healey
The hon. Gentleman's figure of those who voted is well under 50 per cent. of those of electoral age. We all know that those who have not voted are breaking the law in El Salvador, yet about 60 per cent. chose to break the law rather than to vote, unless they were forced into emigration by the actions of the previous Government. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the majority of voters voted for parties of the extreme Right 292 wing, led by a man who has described President Duarte as a tool of international Communism? Is that the right hon. Gentleman's view?

§ Mr. Luce
I am surprised by the rather unconstructive way in which the right hon. Gentleman seems to be approaching this problem time and again.

§ Mr. Stanbrook
My hon. Friend should not be surprised.

§ Mr. Luce
Yes, perhaps I should not be surprised. I am trying to help the right hon. Gentleman. I remain surprised by the attitude that he has adopted. Let us wait to hear what the observers have to say. In the meantime we note that the figures suggest that about 60 per cent. of the electorate has voted. If the right hon. Gentleman believes in the use of the ballot box, surely he should be supporting and encouraging that process rather than encouraging those who have used the gun to try to intimidate.

§ Mr. Eldon Griffiths
Is my hon. Friend aware that those of us who had the privilege of visiting El Salvador find it hard to arrive at the same sort of certitude as the right hon. Member for Leeds, East (Mr. Healey) has expressed, without having been there? Will he accept that, whatever the result of the election, the main attack on human rights has come from those who sought to prevent people from going to the ballot box in peace? Secondly, does he accept that we should have the greatest admiration for the courage of the Salvadoran people who risked their lives to prosecute an election by the ballot and not by the bullet?

§ Mr. Luce
I agree entirely with what my hon. Friend has said.

§ Mr. Hooley
Is the hon. Gentleman aware that not all of those who went to El Salvador entirely share the views of the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Griffiths)? The evidence that we received from the man who was organising the elections showed that the techniques involved would allow the police in El Salvador to identify those who vote and those who do not. As those who do not vote are guilty of a crime, punishment may follow.

§ Mr. Luce
When the observers' report is available it will be published in full. It will be available to the House, to the press and to the British public. We shall be able to study in great detail what the observers have to say. They have been in El Salvador for a number of days and they have observed the elections. Let us wait to hear what they have to say.