San Salvador.- The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, defended immediate re-election this Sunday, after the Congress of this country reformed the Constitution to allow it, and pointed out that “90% of developed countries allow” indefinite re-election.
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Furthermore, it was pointed out that “if El Salvador were to declare itself a parliamentary monarchy with the same rules as the United Kingdom, Spain or Denmark, they would still not support it. In fact, they would be furious if that happened.” The Legislative Assembly, dominated by the Nuevas Ideas (NI) party, approved and ratified, in a single day on July 31 without prior analysis or debate, the reform to articles 75, 80, 133, 152 and 154 of the Constitution. With what was approved in the Salvadoran Congress, President Bukele has a clear path to seek a third consecutive term. However, so far the president has not made public his intentions to run. Bukele’s allies in Congress also reformed the Constitution so that the presidential term changes to six years – when it was five – and eliminated the second round of elections. For Juanita Goebertus, director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch (HRW), the ruling party Nuevas Ideas, of President Bukele, “is going down the same path as Venezuela” by promoting a constitutional reform that allows for indefinite presidential re-election. Meanwhile, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) condemned on Friday what it considers “a flagrant manipulation of El Salvador’s constitution”, which “removes limits on the presidential term, granting Bukele unlimited re-elections and 6-year terms.” “This is where years of gradual constitutional manipulation lead: to the dismantling of democracy,” he pointed out in a message on X. The civil organization Acción Ciudadana stated in a press release issued on Friday that “allowing indefinite presidential re-election and extending the term of office does not seek to empower the people, nor to save public funds; on the contrary, its real objective is to perpetuate the president in power.”
