SAN SALVADOR: El Salvador’s lawmakers on Thursday adopted a constitutional reform to abolish presidential term limits and allow current leader Nayib Bukele – who enjoys overwhelming majority support in parliament – to run indefinitely.
The reform, reviewed under an expedited procedure, was adopted by Bukele’s 57 supporters in the Legislative Assembly, and voted against by only three opposition members.
The move will allow re-election “without reservations,” extend the term in office from five to six years, and do away with a second round of voting in elections as Bukele tightens his grip on the Central American nation.
The 44-year-old self-described “cool dictator” has been president since 2019. He was re-elected in 2024 with a whopping majority after a Supreme Court ruling allowed him to bypass a constitutional ban on successive terms.
That election handed Bukele control over state institutions and the parliament, which adopted the changes slammed as anti-democratic by the opposition – the same day as it began debating them.
