The New Ideas Political Party, created by Nayib Bukele, announced this past Monday that the current Salvadoran President had registered as a presidential pre-candidate for the upcoming internal elections.
Critics of President Bukele, which include constitutional legal experts, opposing political figures, and reporters, continue to voice their opinion that the country’s Constitution prohibits him from seeking a second presidential term.
What does it mean for the country that some violate the Constitution with the presidential re-election when many others have their fundamental rights enshrined in the same Constitution violated?” Deputy Claudia Ortiz.
There is no surprise! Bukele seeks to perpetuate himself in power and is not for the citizen; he needs it to prevent the corruption of his administration from being investigated and continue lactating public money. He will do anything to achieve it. If he violates the Constitution and the law, what will he not be capable of?” Ruth Eleonora López of CRISTOSAL.
The current president is already disqualified from being a candidate for the presidency because he already held the presidency for more than six months in the current term. Resigning the last six months wouldn’t do him any good, because it wouldn’t free him from the original disqualification.” Luis Parada, 2024 Presidential Candidate.
Presidential re-election is not allowed in El Salvador. It is prohibited by the Constitution of the Republic on various occasions. Nuevas Ideas has not been able to build a horizontal leadership that allows it to present another candidacy for the Presidency other than Bukele’s.” Saul Hernandez Alfaro, FocosTV.
President Bukele announced in September that he planned to seek a second five-year term as President; it came after the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court ruled that the current President could register himself as a presidential candidate, and it would be up to Salvadorans to vote on him serving a second term.
Constitutional lawyers maintain that Bukele’s candidacy would violate at least four articles of the Salvadoran Constitution, including article 154, which states: “The presidential term will be five years and will begin and end on June 1, without the person who has held the presidency being able to continue in their functions even one more day.”
The constitutional question being asked by Bukele’s critics may not play a significant role in the 2024 Presidential elections; Bukele’s approval ratings are running above 75% in all the surveys performed since 2019.
Although Bukele’s critics continue to voice the unconstitutionally of his candidacy, most Salvadorans want Bukele to serve a second presidential term.
President Bukele and his administration have reduced crime and violence to historic levels, something Salvadorans are happy with. Homicides in El Salvador are down, and the country has experienced many days with zero homicides.
