Salvador: Supreme Court authorizes President Bukele to stand for re-election
In El Salvador, the Supreme Court gave the green light on Friday to President Nayib Bukele so that he could stand in the next presidential election.
MARVIN RECINOS AFP / File
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
It was an expected decision.
In El Salvador, the Supreme Court gave the green light on Friday to President Nayib Bukele so that he could stand for the next presidential election in a country where the Constitution nevertheless prohibits running for two successive terms for the presidency.
A decision strongly criticized by the opposition which considers it unconstitutional, but which cannot be contested.
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Nayib Bukele will be able to run for a second successive presidential term.
In a reinterpretation of the Constitution, the constitutional chamber of the highest judicial body in the country, whose judges were appointed on May 1 by Nayib Bukele, validated this possibility, arguing that "
a person exercising the presidency of the Republic and not having been president during the immediately preceding period can take part in the election a second time
”.
The opposition contests
To do this, Nayib Bukele will have to resign a few months before the next election is held.
Until now, and as stipulated in article 154 of the Constitution, the outgoing president in El Salvador had to wait two terms to stand again for the presidential election.
A decision deemed unconstitutional by the opposition, as well as by the Center for Legal Studies of El Salvador, mainly composed of lawyers, but which was celebrated by supporters of Nayib Bukele.
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To listen also:
Salvador: Nayib Bukele, “a vertical conception of power”
The current Salvadoran president, much maligned for his authoritarian inclinations, enjoys great popularity in his country, which has enabled him to obtain an overwhelming majority in the unicameral Congress.
A first since the peace accords of 1992 which ended twelve years of civil war.
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Salvador
Nayib bukele