SAN SALVADOR (AP) — El Salvador’s ruling party on Monday ratified President Nayib Bukele’s candidacy for February 2027 presidential elections, paving the way for a third consecutive term that has been highly criticized by lawyers and human rights advocates. Bukele’s party Nuevas Ideas, which holds a supermajority in the legislative assembly, held its internal elections Sunday and announced the results on Twitter on Monday. Vice President Félix Ulloa will once again be Bukele’s running mate. Bukele, 44, took office in June 2019 as the region’s youngest president and has continued to enjoy high approval ratings. His February 2024 reelection — with nearly 85% of the valid votes — was highly criticized by constitutional scholars for violating a ban on consecutive reelection. They accuse Bukele of illegally replacing the country’s constitutional Court judges and attorney general to concentrate his power. A September 2021 ruling by the constitutional Court allowed presidential reelection “for one term only.”
The ruling-party controlled Legislative Assembly then approved a constitutional reform in July 2025 to allow indefinite presidential reelection. The reform eliminated the penalty of loss of citizenship rights for those who promoted presidential reelection and the ban on presidential candidacy for those who had served as president in the previous term.This constitutional reform also extended the presidential term from five to six years and moved up the presidential elections to 2027. The constitution previously allowed reelection of a past president after 10 years out of office.
