El Salvador President Nayib Bukele Rejects 'Indefinite Tenure' Despite Questionable Reelection Bid

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is running for reelection despite the El Salvador Constitution mandating that this is not allowed. However, he has publicly rejected an "indefinite tenure" as he stepped down from office to continue his reelection bid for the 2024 presidential elections.

According to Dominican Today, Bukele is currently actively campaigning for reelection despite the constitutional prohibitions, as he received the backing of the El Salvador Supreme Court, which he has stacked in his favor.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that Bukele could seek a second term in the upcoming February 4 election should he step down six months before the election. He has done so already, stepping down from his duties as president last December, six months before the election.

Despite finding a loophole thanks to a Supreme Court stacked in his favor, Bukele stated that he does not want to be in power forever as concerns from other countries and critics within El Salvador grow about him ruling the country for the rest of his life.

Bukele was asked if he would change the constitution so he could run indefinitely. To this, the El Salvador president flatly answered that no, he would not.

Despite concerns about his dictatorial nature and hold on power by running again, Nayib Bukele remains very popular in El Salvador, enjoying a 90% approval rating for his war against the gangs, cracking down on notorious organizations like MS-13 and Barrio-18.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele Extending Influence Outside Country With Reelection Bid

While Bukele is not actively acting as the president anymore, actively campaigning, he is also extending his reach to other countries around the world, with his profile rising all over Latin America.

During a 2-hour forum on X, he accused foreign critics of his controversial policies, which include the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, of trying to keep El Salvador and other developing nations down.

The Associated Press reported that Bukele also declared El Salvador to be the "safest country in Latin America, just a few years after it was listed as one of the world's deadliest." He also pointed out that many in his country were willing "to overlook the erosion of checks and balances in exchange for safe neighborhoods."

With El Salvador hosting not just the e Miss Universe competition in November but also the Central American and Caribbean Games in July, he has boosted his country's international image and touted just how safe El Salvador has become.

Nayib Bukele Still Projected To Win Reelection Bid Despite Constitutionality Question

Bukele's gang crackdowns may have raised the eyebrows of the international community and various human rights organizations, but it has become a popular move to many in El Salvador who have lived in fear of the various criminal gangs plaguing the country.

Because of these crackdowns, which rights groups are saying also victimize innocent civilians often mistaken for gang members, Bukele has sky-high popularity.

Risa Grais-Targow, a director at Eurasia Group, told the Financial Times that Bukele is so popular in El Salvador that she "wouldn't be surprised if this election effectively turns El Salvador into a single-party state."

Bukele not only holds the presidency in El Salvador, but he has also stacked Congress and the Supreme Court with his own loyalists.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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