Overview

• On August 1, the supermajority-dominated parliament opened a fast-track amendment to remove presidential term limits, extend terms to six years and eliminate runoff elections.
• The draft amendment would end Bukele’s current term in 2027 instead of 2029 and allow him to seek office indefinitely.
• Nuevas Ideas holds 57 of 60 legislative seats, ensuring smooth passage of the reform without opposition support.
• Opposition deputies and Human Rights Watch have denounced the effort as the death of democracy and likened it to a march toward dictatorship.
• Bukele’s state-of-exception security campaign has cut homicides to record lows but prompted 87,000 arrests and reports of thousands of wrongful detentions and hundreds of prison deaths.