Salvador: an upheaval of the political landscape expected
Nayib Bukele, July 18, 2020. AFP
Text by: Marie Normand Follow
7 min
5.4 million Salvadorans are being called to the polls this Sunday, February 28 for municipal and legislative elections.
A poll in the form of a referendum on the policy pursued by President Nayib Bukele for two years.
Publicity
Read more
Leather jacket, baseball cap: Nayib Bukele stands out in the Salvadoran political landscape and that's what pleases.
This very young president - 37 years old at the time of his election in February 2019 - had campaigned on the renovation of Salvadoran political life and the criticism of the two traditional parties that have shared power since the end of the civil war: ARENA , on the right, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), on the left, the party of the former guerrilla that signed peace agreements with the army in 1992. The founder of the
Nuevas Ideas
party
(New Ideas) presents itself as an outsider.
He denounces corruption, inaction of the political class and carries the hopes of a change in this very poor country of Central America, regularly affected by the
tropical storms
and plagued by
maras
, ultraviolent gangs.
The president had rightly promised to tackle insecurity.
Two years later, El Salvador is still one of the most violent countries in the world.
But homicide figures are at their lowest since the end of the civil war.
Perhaps it is linked to the health crisis, or to a
truce negotiated with the gangs
, as an investigation by the very serious newspaper
El Faro shows
.
Nayib Bukele and his ministers deny any agreement with these criminal groups.
Another major campaign theme of Nayib Bukele: the fight against corruption.
Since 2019, investigations and arrests have multiplied.
They mainly target the two traditional parties, which have a majority in Parliament.
The separation of powers in question
Recovering this institution during the legislative elections would simplify the task of Nayib Bukele, because his relations with parliamentarians are notoriously strained.
For two years, it is the showdown.
In particular, Parliament refused to approve the international loan which is to finance its flagship program to fight organized crime.
To exert pressure, Nayib Bukele
burst into Parliament
with soldiers and riot police on February 9, 2020.
A few days ago, MEPs demanded that a parliamentary committee declare
the
president's “
mental incapacity
”.
Obtaining a comfortable majority in Parliament would allow Nayib Bukele to move forward with his reforms more quickly, including a revision of the Constitution.
But this worries his detractors who denounce a concentration of powers in the hands of a man already accused of authoritarian abuses.
This is a scenario where there will likely be a concentration of power in the hands of a single political party.
Since 1992, until now, we had never known a scenario like this.
Power was distributed fairly.
The exercise of control of powers and against powers worked.
But if the legislative assembly is dominated by a simple majority or qualified by deputies close to President Bukele, the latter will have the possibility of appointing magistrates to the Supreme Court.
And then it is the National Assembly which must at the end of the year appoint the Attorney General of the Republic.
And because of the type of behavior the president has had during these almost two years of government, often very authoritarian and not in conciliation, if he obtains a majority in the assembly, he will be able to repeal, approve or reform laws at its convenience.
Saul Baños, Director of the Salvadoran Foundation for Law Enforcement Studies (Fespad)
Trade unions, human rights and environmental organizations, regularly report abuse of power.
Nayib Bukele is an omnipresent president, who does not hesitate to rule by tweets.
Last March, it was through a message on this social network that he had ordered the military to arrest any person who did not respect confinement.
Shattering of the political landscape?
The Salvadoran head of state has bad relations with the press.
He is also accused of nepotism.
Since his election, Nayib Bukele has placed a whole circle of friends, relatives and even his own family in positions of power.
A journalistic investigation shows in particular the influence of his brothers on the presidency.
During the campaign for these legislative and municipal elections, he
was accused of fueling tensions
by constantly denigrating traditional parties and criticizing the 1992 peace accords. The president is also criticized for having misused the funds. public to distribute food packages in the midst of an election campaign under cover of aid to deal with the pandemic.
But in the eyes of the population, security seems to be improving, corruption is finally fought, and it seems to be passing the rest.
The president's party,
Nuevas Ideas,
is given a clear winner on Sunday in all polls.
He could have an absolute majority in the unicameral Parliament, and win several important municipalities.
After 30 years of unchallenged reign of the two parties ARENA and FMLN, it is therefore an upheaval of the Salvadoran political landscape which is expected on Sunday February 28.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Salvador
Nayib bukele