El Salvador: Nayib Bukele Announces Re-Election Bid Despite Prohibition in Nation's Constitution
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced that he is eyeing a re-election bid despite the country's constitution prohibition.
Al Jazeera reported that the prohibition in the constitution prevents presidents from having consecutive terms.
Bukele made the announcement in an Independence Day speech that was live-streamed on public television and social media, saying that he has decided to run as a candidate for president. Bukele's current term is set to conclude in 2024.
The president added that developed countries "have re-election," noting that with the new configuration in El Salvador's democratic institution, re-elections can be made too.
Bukele's re-election came a year after the new justices of El Salvador's Supreme Court ruled that presidents can seek a second consecutive term despite the prohibition in the constitution banning re-election. The new judges were appointed by lawmakers that are aligning themselves with Bukele.
El Salvador's Nayib Bukele Re-Election
Many reacted strongly to Bukele's announcement, but observers had seen it already ever since the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court.
Estela Sanchez, a produce vendor in El Salvador, said in a Washington Post report that she does not understand the constitution, but that Bukele is doing "a good job," citing the president's work with the gangs. Sanchez said that she supports Bukele.
Meanwhile, constitutional lawyers said re-election violates at least four articles of the constitution, including the limits stating that presidential terms should be just five years and that the president who has served will not continue for one day more.
Vice President Felix Ulloa said it is not constitutional, adding that he has concerned his life to respect the rule of the democratic and constitutional state.
For Congresswoman Dina Argueta, the announcement was no surprise as Bukele had been working toward it. Argueta is a member of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front.
A frequent Bukele critic, Juan Pappier, stated the "constitutional breach was predictable." Papier is a senior investigator in Human Rights Watch Americans Division. He added that El Salvador has been heading on the path of "dictatorship.
El Salvador Under Nayib Bukele
CID Gallup conducted a poll last month showing that 85% approve of Bukele's presidency, and 95% said that they approve of his governance in security matters, according to a Reuters report.
Bukele has imposed bitcoin as a legal tender in El Salvador. He had also led a crackdown against gangs through emergency powers that Congress had extended for the sixth time.
Despite the approval of Bukele's crackdown on gangs, critics noted that many innocent people have been arrested without cause.
Police sources told Reuters in May that they had been forced to meet daily arrest quotas.
Bukele said the international community criticizes the capture of gang members "as if they wanted us to be doing badly again." He added that it is "the only way for El Salvador."
Human and civil rights groups have recorded more than 3,000 arrests.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Mary Webber
WATCH: Nayib Bukele announces reelection bid on Independence Day speech - from Nayib Bukele
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