Aug. 1 (UPI) -- El Salvadoran lawmakers voted to abolish presidential term limits as part of constitutional reforms that could allow the country's populist president, Nayib Bukele, to remain in power indefinitely.
Under the reformed electoral system, the previous five-year term is increased to six years and a restriction limiting presidents to a single term is removed, allowing El Salvador's executive to run for office an unlimited number of times.
Members of Bukele's New Ideas Party in the Legislative Assembly voted through the reform on Thursday, 18 months after Bukele won a second term in a landslide victory, despite a constitutional prohibition on consecutive terms. The Supreme Court, packed with pro-Bukele justices, waived the ban on grounds that it infringed Bukele's human rights.
Opposition politicians and human rights organizations condemned the move, saying it removed one of the last remaining checks on power and brought the country a step closer to becoming a one-party state.
"Today, democracy has died in El Salvador," said opposition Republican National Alliance MP Marcela Villatoro.
