Exit: Salvadoran junta; enter: new Assembly

April 23, 1982

El Salvador's newly elected Constituent Assembly held an inaugural session Thursday to schedule talks for choosing a new president and to take formal control of the nation's legislative functions.

The meeting marked the formal end of legislative power for the military-civilian junta led by President Jose Napoleon Duarte.

Former Foreign Minister Antonio Rodriguez Porth was mentioned as the favorite rightist candidate. But the Assembly, fearing the US Congress would halt military aid to a rightist government, has reportedly drafted a list of four possible candidates, including Alvaro Magana, a banker.