By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

          SAN SALVADOR, March 11 -- After a decade of conservative
          dominance, El Salvador's left appears to have a strong chance of
          finally increasing its share of power in Congress in a tight national election
          race on Sunday.

          Polls indicate that the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front -- the
          former rebel group that has transformed itself into the country's leading
          left-wing party -- could boost its share of seats in the single-house
          Congress to 30 or 32 from the current 27. Smaller center-left parties
          may also make gains.

          The left was battered in last year's presidential election, which was won
          by Francisco Flores of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance.
          It was the right-wing party's third consecutive victory for the presidency,
          which has a five-year term.

          The Alliance, known as Arena, has also dominated Congress throughout
          the last decade, even as the country's former guerrilla movement entered
          the political mainstream after signing a January 1992 peace treaty that
          ended a 13-year civil war.

          In recent years, Arena has seen its share of seats in Congress erode,
          from 39 in 1994 to 28 in 1997, though alliances with centrist and other
          rightist parties have allowed it to remain in control.

          Now, opinion polls indicate that Arena's share could slip further, though
          polling in the country is often less than certain and Salvadoran law
          prohibits releasing new polling data in the final 15 days before the vote.

          At stake are 84 congressional seats, 20 seats in the Central American
          Parliament, and 262 posts for mayor, including in the capital, San
          Salvador. Eight parties are taking part in all.

          About 3 million Salvadorans are registered to vote, though surveys have
          also indicated that voter apathy is running high in a country disillusioned
          with its government's inability to turn the tide on rising crime or to address
          endemic poverty. Some polls have shown that turnout could be less than
          50 percent.

          In the course of recent elections, the opposition Farabundo Martí
          National Liberation Front has increased its seats in Congress from 21 to
          27. The leftist party has also headed a coalition that elected the capital's
          mayor, Héctor Silva, three years ago in its most important triumph to
          date.

          Mr. Silva held a strong lead over several other candidates in the last
          opinion polls.

          The leftist front has campaigned on promises of temporarily suspending
          foreclosures and cutting the country's value-added tax to 10 percent from
          13. It favors an anti-monopoly law that has worried some of the
          country's businessmen.

          It has also called for tighter regulation of banks, for broader access to
          credit, suspending privatization efforts and for a tougher anti-corruption
          law.

          The closeness of the race has led to bitter exchanges, with Arena leaders
          charging that the front was determined to promote instability. It also
          blamed the front for fomenting a strike among health workers that turned
          violent this week.

          The opposition party denounced the charges as the kind that had
          polarized politics during the civil conflict, which left 75,000 people dead
          in a country of about six million.

          The clashes prompted the front, as well as the American Embassy, to call
          for prudence when the polls open Sunday to avoid disturbances.

          The balloting has also been threatened by former members of
          paramilitary units that fought in the civil war. They are now demanding
          compensation.