El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, with his wife Gabriela Rodriguez at his side, speaks to his supporters after the presidential elections on February 4 (Getty)

As was expected, and in a historical precedent that El Salvador had not witnessed before, its current president, of Palestinian origin, Najib Bukele, decided the result of the presidential and legislative electoral race in his country with an overwhelming victory exceeding 85%, and his young party, “New Ideas,” recorded a resounding result, exceeding 90%. % of parliamentary seats.

Although these percentages remind us of the results of the unfair elections, international observers did not record any significant irregularities in the voting process, which made President Bukele exulted in describing it as: “a precedent in the history of the world’s democracies”!

The result confirmed - beyond any doubt - that President Bukele's bet on achieving security for Salvadorans, regardless of the method, was the winning card that ensured his victory in a second presidential term, turning it into a "school of government" in the eyes of the vast majority of the rest of the Latin peoples who It and its governments were tyrannized by the bullying of drug gangs and organized crime.

Dictator of the rising generations

But it is a “phenomenon” in which populism and dictatorship are mixed, in the eyes of its critics among the elites and jurists inside and outside El Salvador. He is “the most wonderful dictator,” as he presented himself at the beginning of his war on the gangs, and “the dictator of the rising generations,” as the Spanish press described him.

In fact, President Bukele is considered, on the personal and political level, an interesting case to follow. The least that can be said is that he established the idea of ​​“political stardom,” outside of the partisan polarity that ruled El Salvador for 30 continuous years before he assumed the presidency in 2019, and away from the apparent American tutelage. On the countries of the continent.

It is a challenge that he achieved during a very rapid political career, and it represented a historic blow to the National Front for National Liberation party, with which he began his political career in 2012, and refused to recommend it to run in its name for the 2018 presidential elections. He underestimated his abilities, which prompted him to found his current party, “New Ideas.”

President Bukele did not forgive the insult from the Front party after that, and he maintained his opposition to the right-wing opponent, “Arena”, to respond to the blow again by having his party obtain 56% of the seats in the 2021 Parliament, and today it is close to devouring all the seats in last Sunday’s elections.

It should be noted that the presidential term in El Salvador lasts for five years, while the parliamentary term lasts for four years. Moreover, President Bukele reduced the composition of Parliament from 84 seats to 60 this time.

On the other hand, opinion polls predict a sweeping victory for President Bukela’s party in the municipal elections that will be held four weeks from now, in which the president also made radical adjustments to its composition, which the opposition described as malicious adjustments, stemming from a carefully thought-out geographical redistribution that ensures The "New Ideas" party won a majority of municipalities.

Economic crises

Critics of President Bukeila consider that his war on drug gangs and organized crime, the detention of more than 70,000 of their members, and his construction of the largest prison on the American continent with high-quality technical surveillance capabilities and capacity for forty thousand prisoners, is merely a “populist strategy” that President Bukeila followed after assuming the reins of office. The presidency and his confidence in his party’s seats in Parliament in late 2021.

However, his long-term goals were not limited to essentially eliminating gangs, but rather his awareness that this was the surest way to run for a second term.

The opposition website "El Faro" says: The period of joy for 7 million Salvadorans, who have been relieved of the specter of random killing, extortion, and intimidation practiced on them by gangs, could extend to two years at most, which is what President Bukela planned.

After that, the economic issue, and the problems of unemployment, health, and education, will be urgently raised, but President Bukele will then be in his second term, and will not care about the extent of his success in resolving them, because he did not show any indicators regarding them in his first term.

In addition, the Bitcoin adventure that he adopted, as a parallel currency for El Salvador as soon as he assumed the presidency in 2019, caused a huge loss for the country, with the value of the digital currency collapsing globally in 2022.

Artificial campaign

On the other hand, some critics also doubt that the war on gangs was a police campaign that was exaggerated to satisfy the thirst of the vast majority of people for revenge against the gangs.

The Spanish government channel broadcast a report six months ago, in which it obtained testimony from a Salvadoran policeman, who admitted that the government forces each team to arrest ten gang members daily, and if they do not carry out the task, they are required to arrest any suspect, just in order to achieve the rate.

This reinforces the story of many human rights organizations and many families in El Salvador, who accused the government of falsely arresting their children even though they had never belonged to gangs.

Human rights organizations and the opposition believe that President Bukele is adopting this method to cover up his transgressions against democracy in the country, his efforts to monopolize all powers, and to stifle the opposition.

All his critics believe that his dismissal of the Public Prosecutor four years ago and his interference in appointing a new allied majority of Constitutional Court judges, then creating a loophole in the constitution that enabled him to run for a second term, are the clearest signs of his dictatorial approach, and some still consider his recent victory invalid. Because Salvadoran law does not allow two presidential terms in a row, and the loophole is artificial.

No gangs, no democracy

In fact, President Bukela's personality is characterized by characteristics that allowed him to shine, despite criticism. The young man of Palestinian origins is the fifth son of the late businessman and engineer Armando Bukele, who was proud during his life that his scientific IQ exceeded that of Einstein. The Salvadoran press reports that “charisma” and intelligence are two qualities available to all members of the Bukele family.

It seems that this is what helped President Bukele climb the ladder of success and fame very quickly. It was known about him that the first executive position he held was managing a nightclub, after which he founded a huge advertising company. Then he launched his political career in 2012 in the mayorship of a municipality near the capital, after which he won the mayorship of the capital, then he announced his intention to run for president, and won it. Throughout the march, he was confident in his ambitions, as his allies and opponents testified.

At a time when the opposition summarizes the president’s phase with a slogan entitled: “No gangs, no democracy,” and considers that the president does not intend to end the emergency law that he imposed since March 2022.

Most of Salvadoran society has proven that it needs security before work and democracy, even if the government's whip accidentally targets innocent people.