El Salvador’s National Assembly on Thursday approved sweeping changes to the nation’s Constitution, paving the way for President Nayib Bukele, who is in his second term in office, to run for re-election indefinitely.

The legislature, in which Mr. Bukele’s party holds a supermajority, voted to end presidential term limits and extend a president’s term in office from five years to six, according to the National Assembly’s X account.

Mr. Bukele was first elected in 2019 and successfully ran in 2024 for a second term, even though legal scholars said at the time that El Salvador’s Constitution barred a president from serving consecutive terms. After Mr. Bukele’s legislative allies installed new judges on the Supreme Court, the court reinterpreted the Constitution and cleared the way for the president to run again.

The 44-year-old president has consolidated power while in office, leading his Nuevas Ideas party to its supermajority in the legislature and cracking down on gangs through mass arrests. Killings and extortion by gangs have gone down dramatically under Mr. Bukele, but civil liberties have also deteriorated, Salvadoran human rights defenders say.

The party of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele approved constitutional changes in the country’s Legislative Assembly on Thursday that will allow indefinite presidential re-election and extend presidential terms to six years.

Advertisement

Lawmaker Ana Figueroa from the New Ideas party had proposed the changes to five articles of the constitution. The proposal also included eliminating the second round of the election where the two top vote-getters from the first round face off.

New Ideas and its allies in the Legislative Assembly quickly approved the proposals with the supermajority they hold. The vote passed with 57 in favour and three opposed.

Bukele overwhelmingly won re-election last year despite a constitutional ban, after Supreme Court justices selected by his party ruled in 2021 to allow re-election to a second five-year term.

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has cozied up to US President Donald Trump. File photo: TNS

Observers have worried that Bukele had a plan to consolidate power since at least 2021, when a newly elected Congress with a strong governing party majority voted to remove the magistrates of the constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court. Those justices had been seen as the last check on the popular president.

El Salvador’s National Assembly has approved a major constitutional overhaul, eliminating presidential term limits and extending the presidential term from five to six years — a move that allows President Nayib Bukele to seek re-election indefinitely.

El Salvador’s National Assembly on Thursday approved sweeping changes to the nation’s Constitution, paving the way for President Nayib Bukele, who is in his second term in office, to run for re-election indefinitely, News.Az reports, citing The New York Times.

The legislature, in which Mr. Bukele’s party holds a supermajority, voted to end presidential term limits and extend a president’s term in office from five years to six, according to the National Assembly’s X account.

Mr. Bukele was first elected in 2019 and successfully ran in 2024 for a second term, even though legal scholars said at the time that El Salvador’s Constitution barred a president from serving consecutive terms. After Mr. Bukele’s legislative allies installed new judges on the Supreme Court, the court reinterpreted the Constitution and cleared the way for the president to run again.

The 44-year-old president has consolidated power while in office, leading his Nuevas Ideas party to its supermajority in the legislature and cracking down on gangs through mass arrests. Killings and extortion by gangs have gone down dramatically under Mr. Bukele, but civil liberties have also deteriorated, Salvadoran human rights defenders say.

In June, Mr. Bukele said he would rather be called a dictator than let criminals operate with impunity. He has also positioned himself as President Trump’s closest ally in Latin America, playing a role in Mr. Trump’s deportation plans by imprisoning immigrants expelled from the United States, in exchange for the return to El Salvador of members of the MS-13 gang who had been in U.S. custody.

The amendments to five articles of the Constitution quickly passed on Thursday, with 57 votes in favor and three opposed, the National Assembly said on X.

The changes will ensure that presidential elections coincide with legislative and municipal elections, Ana Figueroa, the Nuevas Ideas lawmaker who proposed the amendments, wrote on social media after the vote. She also noted that legislators and local officials, like mayors, do not have term limits.

Mr. Bukele’s current term ends in 2029, but Ms. Figueroa said that it should end in 2027 to coincide with legislative elections, at which point he could run for a six-year term.

News.Az

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele secured the right to seek indefinite re-election on Thursday after his party-controlled Congress approved a sweeping constitutional reform that also extends presidential terms from five to six years.

Bukele, 44, who has been president since 2019 and was re-elected in 2024 with 85 percent of the vote, now holds near-total control over the country’s institutions — in what the opposition calls a “dictatorship.”

In a fast-tracked vote, 57 of 60 lawmakers passed measures allowing re-election “without reservation”, extending the presidential term from five to six years, and doing away with a second round of voting in elections.

Lawmakers also voted to synchronize legislative, presidential and municipal elections.

Fireworks erupted in the main square of San Salvador as lawmakers ratified the reform in a second late-night plenary session.

“Thank you for making history, colleagues,” said Assembly President Ernesto Castro of Bukele’s party.

The reform also shortens the current presidential term by two years, moving general elections to March 2027 — which would allow Bukele to seek a longer new term earlier than scheduled if he wins.

Bukele enjoys enormous support at home for his heavy-handed campaign against criminal gangs, which has reduced violence in the country to historic lows.

But it has also drawn sharp criticism from international rights groups.

The reforms came shortly after a wave of arrests targeting human rights defenders and government critics, prompting dozens of journalists and humanitarian workers to flee the country.

At a bus stop in northern San Salvador, 41-year-old teacher Mauricio Acevedo told AFP he wasn’t surprised.

“While some of the actions have been good, the bad will only grow,” he said.

“In the end, all we can do is watch.”

Ruling party lawmaker Ana Figueroa, who introduced the reform, said Salvadorans “can now decide how long to support their president.”

But opposition lawmaker Marcela Villatoro denounced the move.

“Today, democracy has died in El Salvador,” she said, criticizng the reforms’ approval just as the country enters a week-long vacation.

“They’ve taken off the masks… They’re shameless.”

Human Rights Watch’s Americas director Juanita Goebertus said El Salvador is “following Venezuela’s path.”

“It begins with a leader who uses his popularity to concentrate power, and ends in a dictatorship,” she wrote on social media.

Miguel Montenegro of the nongovernmental Human Rights Commission said the reforms “completely dismantle what little democracy remained.”

In a speech marking the first year of his second term, Bukele said he doesn’t care if people call him a dictator, brushing off international criticism over the arrest of humanitarian activists.

A close ally of US President Donald Trump, Bukele’s international image has been dented by his handling of detainees.

His government held 252 Venezuelans for four months in a mega-prison he built for gang members. Many later alleged torture and abuse.

Emboldened by its relationship with Trump, the Bukele administration detained human rights defenders in May and June, including prominent lawyer Ruth Lopez, who had denounced alleged cases of government corruption.

Under the ongoing emergency regime, roughly 88,000 people have been arrested on gang-related charges. Rights groups say thousands were detained arbitrarily, and more than 400 have died in custody.

Bukele’s 2024 re-election had already sparked concern, with critics arguing it violated the constitution and was enabled by a ruling by loyalist judges.

[EPA]

El Salvador’s congress has approved constitutional reforms to abolish presidential term limits, allowing President Nayib Bukele to run an unlimited number of times.

The reform, reviewed under an expedited procedure, will also extend term times to from five to six years, while the next election will be brought forward to 2027.

Mr Bukele, who has been president of the Central American nation since 2019, is a polarising figure. His major crackdown on crime has proved popular among voters, but human rights groups say thousands have been arbitrarily arrested.

“Today, democracy has died in El Salvador,” said Marcela Villatoro, an MP with the opposition Republican National Alliance (Arena).

The reform was adopted by Bukele’s 57 supporters in the Legislative Assembly, and voted against by only three opposition members. Critics say the move will entrench one-party rule in the country.

“Thank you for making history, fellow deputies,” said the president of the Legislative Assembly, Ernesto Castro, from the ruling New Ideas party, after counting the votes.

Bukele, 44, won a second term last year despite a clear prohibition in the country’s constitution.

El Salvador’s top court, which is filled with Bukele-backed judges, ruled in 2021 that it was the leader’s human right to run again.

The overhaul will also shorten the president’s current term by two years, to synchronize elections in 2027, as presidential, legislative and municipal elections are currently staggered.

Despite his popularity, Mr Bukele remains a controversial figure.

His crime crackdown has caused murder rates to fall. But human rights groups say that thousands have been arbitrarily arrested during his anti-gang drive.

An estimated 75,000 people have been arrested under emergency measures that have been repeatedly extended.

“The day before vacation, without debate, without informing the public, in a single legislative vote, they changed the political system to allow the president to perpetuate himself in power indefinitely and we continue to follow the well-travelled path of autocrats,” Noah Bullock, executive director of rights group Cristosal, said.

In a report in December, Amnesty International criticised the “gradual replacement of gang violence with state violence”.