SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — In a move aimed at increasing transparency and legal clarity, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly has eliminated the option for lawmakers to abstain from voting during plenary sessions.
Lawmakers on Thursday approved an amendment to Article 86 of the Assembly’s Internal Regulations (RIAL), requiring deputies to vote either “for” or “against” all proposals submitted to the plenary—once the reform takes effect, abstentions will no longer be permitted in legislative votes.
Deputy Ernesto Castro, president of the Legislative Assembly, stated that the initiative aims to ensure that Salvadorans clearly understand the position of the 60 legislators who make up the Legislative Assembly on the various issues submitted to the plenary for consideration.
The revised Article 86 allows for two voting mechanisms: either by show of hands or electronic system and by public roll call, in which each legislator must verbally declare their vote. Both methods must yield only affirmative or negative results.
Reactions to the Legislative Assembly’s decision to eliminate abstentions in plenary votes have been mixed, highlighting deep political divisions.
Opposition lawmaker Marcela Villatoro criticized the reform as a partisan maneuver by the ruling Nuevas Ideas party. “What they want is for people to say that we voted against the people,” Villatoro said.
Aldo Álvarez, El Salvador’s ambassador to China and a supporter of President Nayib Bukele, defended the change, stating, “The political objective is to fully expose, before the public, those who don’t want their true intentions to be known.”
Political analyst Bessy Ríos questioned the practical value of the measure. “The underlying question is: what benefit does this bring to the country, to the Assembly? Nothing,” she said. “It simply puts the opposition in the spotlight because they [New Ideas Political Party] need to be fighting with someone.”
The reform will go into effect eight days after its publication in the Diario Oficial, the country’s official government newspaper.
