El Salvador parliament adopts reform to allow Bukele to run indefinitely
The reform, reviewed under an expedited procedure, was adopted by Bukele's 57 supporters in the Legislative Assembly, and voted against by only three opposition members.
The move will allow re-election 'without reservations,' extend the term in office from five to six years, and do away with a second round of voting in elections as Bukele tightens his grip on the Central American nation.
The 44-year-old self-described 'cool dictator' has been president since 2019. He was re-elected in 2024 with a whopping majority after a Supreme Court ruling allowed him to bypass a constitutional ban on successive terms.
That election handed Bukele control over state institutions and the parliament, which adopted the changes slammed as anti-democratic by the opposition – the same day as it began debating them.
'Thank you for making history, fellow deputies,' said the president of the Legislative Assembly Ernesto Castro, from the ruling Nuevas Ideas party, after counting the votes.
'This day, democracy has died in El Salvador … The masks were removed,' said opposition lawmaker Marcela Villatoro during the parliamentary session, criticizing the proposal being brought to parliament as the country begins a week of summer holidays.
Lawmakers voted to synchronize legislative, presidential and municipal elections, and the shorten the current presidential term by two years from 2029, with general elections due in March 2027.
With the constitutional reforms, Bukele will be able to run again.
Bukele enjoys enormous support at home for his heavy-handed campaign against criminal gangs, which has reduced violence in the country to historic lows.
But it has also drawn sharp criticism from international rights groups.
His government is also facing accusations of repression against rights activists and critics of Bukele's government, which has forced dozens of journalists and campaigners into exile.
'The reforms lead to a total imbalance in the democracy that no longer exists,' Miguel Montenegro, director of NGO the Human Rights Commission of El Salvador, told AFP.
In April 2024, the parliament approved a reform so that constitutional changes no longer require ratification in another legislative session.
Opposition politician Claudia Ortiz slammed the reform as 'an abuse of power and a caricature of democracy.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
4 days ago
- Arab News
El Salvador parliament adopts reform to allow Bukele to run indefinitely
SAN SALVADOR: El Salvador's lawmakers on Thursday adopted a constitutional reform to abolish presidential term limits and allow current leader Nayib Bukele – who enjoys overwhelming majority support in parliament – to run indefinitely. The reform, reviewed under an expedited procedure, was adopted by Bukele's 57 supporters in the Legislative Assembly, and voted against by only three opposition members. The move will allow re-election 'without reservations,' extend the term in office from five to six years, and do away with a second round of voting in elections as Bukele tightens his grip on the Central American nation. The 44-year-old self-described 'cool dictator' has been president since 2019. He was re-elected in 2024 with a whopping majority after a Supreme Court ruling allowed him to bypass a constitutional ban on successive terms. That election handed Bukele control over state institutions and the parliament, which adopted the changes slammed as anti-democratic by the opposition – the same day as it began debating them. 'Thank you for making history, fellow deputies,' said the president of the Legislative Assembly Ernesto Castro, from the ruling Nuevas Ideas party, after counting the votes. 'This day, democracy has died in El Salvador … The masks were removed,' said opposition lawmaker Marcela Villatoro during the parliamentary session, criticizing the proposal being brought to parliament as the country begins a week of summer holidays. Lawmakers voted to synchronize legislative, presidential and municipal elections, and the shorten the current presidential term by two years from 2029, with general elections due in March 2027. With the constitutional reforms, Bukele will be able to run again. Bukele enjoys enormous support at home for his heavy-handed campaign against criminal gangs, which has reduced violence in the country to historic lows. But it has also drawn sharp criticism from international rights groups. His government is also facing accusations of repression against rights activists and critics of Bukele's government, which has forced dozens of journalists and campaigners into exile. 'The reforms lead to a total imbalance in the democracy that no longer exists,' Miguel Montenegro, director of NGO the Human Rights Commission of El Salvador, told AFP. In April 2024, the parliament approved a reform so that constitutional changes no longer require ratification in another legislative session. Opposition politician Claudia Ortiz slammed the reform as 'an abuse of power and a caricature of democracy.'
Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- Al Arabiya
El Salvador's governing party proposes indefinite presidential reelection
The party of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele proposed constitutional changes in the country's National Assembly on Thursday that would allow indefinite presidential reelection and extend presidential terms to six years. Lawmaker Ana Figueroa from the New Ideas party proposed the changes to five articles of the constitution. The proposal also includes eliminating the second round of the election where the two top vote-getters from the first round face off. New Ideas and its allies in the National Assembly have a supermajority that could approve the proposal without difficulty under changes already made to the process for making constitutional adjustments. Bukele overwhelmingly won reelection last year despite a constitutional ban after Supreme Court justices selected by his party ruled in 2021 that it allowed reelection to a second five-year term. Figueroa argued Thursday that federal lawmakers and mayors can already seek reelection as many times as they want. 'All of them have had the possibility of reelection through popular vote; the only exception until now has been the presidency,' Figueroa said. She also proposed that Bukele's current term scheduled to end June 1, 2029, instead finish June 1, 2027, to put presidential and congressional elections on the same schedule. It would also allow Bukele to seek reelection to a longer term two years earlier. Bukele, who once dubbed himself the 'world's coolest dictator,' is highly popular largely because of his heavy-handed fight against the country's powerful street gangs. Voters have been willing to overlook evidence that his administration, like others before it, had negotiated with the gangs before seeking a state of emergency that suspended some constitutional rights and allowed authorities to arrest and jail tens of thousands of people. His success with security and politically has inspired imitators in the region who seek to replicate his style.
Arab News
5 days ago
- Arab News
Judge blocks Trump administration from ending protections for 60,000 from Central America and Nepal
SAN FRANCISCO: A federal judge ruled on Thursday against the Trump administration's plans and extended Temporary Protected Status for 60,000 people from Central America and Asia, including people from Nepal, Honduras and Nicaragua. Temporary Protected Status is a protection that can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary to people of various nationalities who are in the United States, preventing from being deported and allowing them to work. The Trump administration has aggressively been seeking to remove the protection, thus making more people eligible for removal. It's part of a wider effort by the administration to carry out mass deportations of immigrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem can extend Temporary Protected Status to immigrants in the US if conditions in their homelands are deemed unsafe to return due to a natural disaster, political instability or other dangerous conditions. Noem had ruled to end protections for tens of thousands of Hondurans and Nicaraguans after determining that conditions in their homelands no longer warranted them. The secretary said the two countries had made 'significant progress' in recovering from 1998's Hurricane Mitch, one of the deadliest Atlantic storms in history. The designation for an estimated 7,000 from Nepal was scheduled to end Aug. 5 while protections allowing 51,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans who have been in the US for more than 25 years were set to expire Sept. 8. US District Judge Trina L. Thompson in San Francisco did not set an expiration date but rather ruled to keep the protections in place while the case proceeds. The next hearing is Nov. 18. In a sharply written order, Thompson said the administration ended the migrant status protections without an 'objective review of the country conditions' such as political violence in Honduras and the impact of recent hurricanes and storms in Nicaragua. If the protections were not extended, immigrants could suffer from loss of employment, health insurance, be separated from their families, and risk being deported to other countries where they have no ties, she wrote, adding that the termination of Temporary Protection Status for people from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua would result in a $1.4 billion loss to the economy. 'The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all Plaintiffs seek. Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names, and purify their blood,' Thompson said. Lawyers for the National TPS Alliance argued that Noem's decisions were predetermined by President Donald Trump's campaign promises and motivated by racial animus. Thompson agreed, saying that statements Noem and Trump have made perpetuated the 'discriminatory belief that certain immigrant populations will replace the white population.' 'Color is neither a poison nor a crime,' she wrote. The advocacy group that filed the lawsuit said designees usually have a year to leave the country, but in this case, they got far less. 'They gave them two months to leave the country. It's awful,' said Ahilan Arulanantham, an attorney for plaintiffs at a hearing Tuesday. Honduras Foreign Minister Javier Bu Soto said via the social platform X that the ruling was 'good news.' 'The decision recognizes that the petitioners are looking to exercise their right to live in freedom and without fear while the litigation plays out,' the country's top diplomat wrote. He said the government would continue supporting Hondurans in the United States through its consular network. Meanwhile in Nicaragua, hundreds of thousands have fled into exile as the government shuttered thousands of nongovernmental organizations and imprisoned political opponents. Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-President Rosario Murillo have consolidated complete control in Nicaragua since Ortega returned to power two decades ago. In February, a panel of UN experts warned the Nicaraguan government had dismantled the last remaining checks and balances and was 'systematically executing a strategy to cement total control of the country through severe human rights violations.' The broad effort by the Republican administration 's crackdown on immigration has been going after people who are in the country illegally but also by removing protections that have allowed people to live and work in the US on a temporary basis. The Trump administration has already terminated protections for about 350,000 Venezuelans, 500,000 Haitians, more than 160,000 Ukrainians and thousands of people from Afghanistan and Cameroon. Some have pending lawsuits at federal courts. The government argued that Noem has clear authority over the program and that her decisions reflect the administration's objectives in the areas of immigration and foreign policy. 'It is not meant to be permanent,' Justice Department attorney William Weiland said. ___ Ding reported from Los Angeles. Marlon González contributed from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
