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3d ago

El Salvador Legislature Greenlights Constitutional Changes to Extend Bukele’s Rule

Lawmakers used their supermajority to remove term limits, extend presidential terms to six years, abolish run-off elections, actions critics warn dismantle democratic safeguards.

El presidente de El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, en una fotografía de archivo. EFE/Miguel Lemus
El presidente salvadoreño Nayib Bukele ofrece una conferencia de prensa el 14 de enero de 2025, en San Salvador, El Salvador.
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Overview

  • On July 31, the Legislative Assembly dominated by Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas approved a constitutional amendment by a 57-3 vote to eliminate presidential term limits, extend the presidential term to six years and abolish run-off elections.
  • The reforms require a second legislative ratification before taking effect, a step anticipated in the coming months.
  • A transitional provision will shorten Bukele’s current mandate to end on June 1, 2027, aligning presidential, legislative and municipal elections in February 2027, and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal is adjusting its strategic plans accordingly.
  • Bukele defended the overhaul on X as an exercise of national sovereignty and compared it to practices in developed nations that allow indefinite reelection of heads of government.
  • Opposition deputy Marcela Villatoro declared “democracy has died,” political parties ARENA and VAMOS decried the vote as unconstitutional, and Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned the reforms as a mortal blow to democratic checks.