Congress of Saviorwhich is dominated by the ruling party, gave the president a six-month license on Thursday evening Nayib Bukelewhich the president has asked to seek his current re-election in the February 2024 general election, despite accusations that it is unconstitutional.
“To grant leave to the President of the Republic, Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez, for a period of 6 months, from December 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024, which must be used without pay and with all the prerogatives that this position carries,” reads the decree approved with 67 votes from 84 deputies and with exemption from processing.
The last precedent in which a president sought immediate re-election occurred under a dictatorship Maximiliano Hernández Martínez in 1935.
Lawmakers also voted for Bukele, who did not appear in person before Congress to apply for a license, to retain his immunity so he cannot be prosecuted for any application without going through Congress.
The legal decree, which will enter into force the day after its publication in the Official Gazette, also grants leave to the vice president, Felix Ulloawho, together with Bukele, will seek re-election for the ruling party New ideas (NI).
The document states that the license “does not at any time sever the connection between the official and the body he represents, but only suspends the exercise of the authority or public function required by his position.”
This implies, the decree adds, that Bukele “no longer performs the administrative function or activity implied by the position of president, of course without abandoning the investiture of the position he holds and the prerogatives he has.”
This license is the last condition established in the contested decision Constitutional Council of the Supreme Court from 2021 and that the ruling party elected her without due process, so that Bukele can compete for a new mandate in the elections on February 4.
The ruling mandates that “a president running as a presidential candidate for a second term must apply for a license during the six months before” the start of the next term.
Before this change in criteria, which various lawyers say is not a legal mandate because the selection of judges did not take place in accordance with the legal procedure, the president had to wait 10 years after the end of the mandate to run for office.
In March 2021 and before he became president, Bukele stated that in El Salvador the constitution does not allow immediate re-election of the president.
Deputy Johnny Wright, from the opposition party Nuestro Tiempo (NT)he warned before the vote that the license to participate in the campaign was not protected by the Constitution.
He indicated that the Constitution itself prohibits immediate re-election, so Bukele’s justification does not fall within the parameters of “properly proven serious reason”.
“Today, the government in El Salvador does not adapt, nor does it submit to the rules. The rules adapt to the government, to subjugate us,” said Wright, adding that this situation is “a real tragedy for our country, for the region and for the world.”
For his part, deputy Claudia Ortiz, from the opposition party VAMOShe said that “permission cannot be given for something that is illegal, permission cannot be given for violating the Constitution”.
Source: Panama America
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
