Overview
- Nuevas Ideas formally selected President Nayib Bukele as its presidential candidate for the February 2027 election and again picked Félix Ulloa as his running mate.
- A July 2025 constitutional amendment removed presidential term limits, extended the term to six years, eliminated penalties for promoting reelection, and moved the next election schedule to 2027.
- The government credits a multiyear security campaign and a four-year state of emergency with driving homicides to a record low, citing 82 killings in 2025 and high public approval for the president.
- Legal scholars and rights groups say power has been concentrated through the replacement of Constitutional Court judges and the attorney general, and they report over 90,000 detentions under the emergency and more than 500 prison deaths.
- If Bukele wins in February 2027 he could remain in office under the new rules until 2033, a result that critics warn could deepen democratic erosion and prompt closer international scrutiny of El Salvador’s institutions.