Bukele’s indefinite re-election in sight?: El Salvador’s Congress facilitates the reform of the Constitution

The Legislative Assembly of The Saviordominated by the president’s party Nayib Bukele and its allies, surprisingly approved this Monday a controversial reform of an article of the Constitution that facilitates and shortens the time to make substantive changes to the Magna Carta, in force since 1983. In this way, the new Congress will have superpowers to modify the Magna Carta. The Constitution may even include presidential re-election for an indefinite period.

The outgoing deputies took advantage of the last plenary session to make the remodelingwhich will allow the next legislature the power to change the Constitution quickly.

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The new deputies who will begin their mandate this 1st May They just need to ratify the reform of article 248 of the Constitution for it to come into force.

When this happens, explained the El Faro portal, any change in the Constitution It can be approved immediately and without the need, as was the case until now, to wait for a new legislature to take office and ratify it.

El Salvador’s Congress, dominated by allies of re-elected President Nayib Bukele, on Monday approved a controversial reform to speed up changes to the Constitution. (Legislative Assembly of El Salvador/AFP). (FLYER/)

The reform was approved without prior study or analysis with the support of 66 votes from the ruling party and received 16 votes against.

He article renovated, the 248is one of the most important Constitution of El Salvador and establishes that the only way to modify the Magna Carta is approval in the legislature by half plus one of the deputies and then – with a popular election in between – a second legislature to ratify the changes with at least two thirds of the deputies elected representatives.

Now, The new paragraph added to article 248 establishes that a reform can be approved and ratified in the same legislature“with the vote of three quarters of the elected deputies”, which may be published in the Diário da República and come into force immediately.

The Constitution of The Savior establishes that deputies are elected for a period of three years, with the possibility of immediate re-election.

O legislative Assembly The outgoing party is made up of 84 deputies. For the new legislature that begins on May 1st, the number of deputies was reduced to 60: 54 seats will go to the party in power New ideasthree for your allies and only three opponents.

El Faro explained that according to the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Chamber, it was mandatory for candidates for deputies who intended to do what the Bukelistas did to promote the constitutional reforms at stake so that the population had the power to choose whether they wanted these changes.

This required that, under rules that MPs ignored, some candidates first promote their reformist intentions of the Constitution, then they will win electorally the majority to do them during their term of office and will wait for the next legislature to ratify them so they can come into force. None of that happened.

“This Assembly could no longer approve any agreement to reform the Constitution,” Gabriela Santos, lawyer and director of the Institute of Human Rights at the Central American University (Idhuca), told El Faro, referring to the sentences of the Constitutional Chamber that prohibited the approval of constitutional changes in the days before the inauguration of a new legislature.

Deputies participate in a session at the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on April 29, 2024. (AFP). (FLYER/)

For Eduardo Escobardirector of Citizen Actioncivil society organization that promotes transparency in public management, With this reform “the Legislative Assembly acquires superpowerssince an ordinary legislature practically becomes a Constituent Assembly that can change the Constitution immediately, without any prior process, without debate, discussion, without any control.

“This leaves the scope and exercise of citizens’ rights suspended.. They can easily reform rights, change the limits of the exercise of political power; In other words, they can become more involved in people’s personal and private lives, altering the exercise of community rights by giving more power to certain institutions. “These are some of the risks that the reform entails,” he said. Escobar in dialogue with The trade.

As for what would be on the ruling party’s agenda, Escobar He said that they have not yet publicly mentioned what changes they want to make to the Constitution, “but with this reform The way is already open for them to do anything. There is no longer a limit to what the Legislative Assembly can do”, he emphasized.

About the possible rindefinite election of President Bukele, Escobar maintained that it was also not mentioned officially, but recalled that in the past, when deputies from the ruling party were asked whether they would reform the Constitution, they said no. And when asked if Bukele I was going to apply again, they also said no.

At this point, it is worth highlighting that the president of the The Savior He is elected for a five-year term and the Constitution prohibits immediate re-election. Although, Bukele He managed to reapply and won; How did I do it?

Article 154 of the Constitution of El Salvador It says: “The presidential term will be five years and will begin and end on June 1st, without the holder of the Presidency being able to continue in office for another day.”

But in May 2021, with the collaboration of legislative Assemblywhere the party Bukele had a majority, the president expelled five judges from the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, the highest judicial body in the country.

Months later, the Constitutional Chamber, with a majority of allied judges Bukeleissued a resolution authorizing the immediate re-election of the president.

In its decision, the court ordered the Supreme Electoral Court to allow “a person who holds the Presidency of El Salvador and who has not been president in the immediately previous period to participate for the second time in the electoral dispute.”

I just demanded it Bukele He left office six months before the start of a new presidential term.

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, accompanied by his wife Gabriela Rodríguez, shows the certification that accredits him as president-elect for the period 2024-2029 (Photo by Marvin RECINOS/AFP). (MARVIN RECINOS/)

What reforms could be underway? According to El Faro, YouTuber and former Superior Electoral Court judge Walter Araujo began spreading rumors about the imminence of constitutional reforms.

Araujo, who tried to be a candidate for deputy for the Bukelementioned a list of what, in his opinion, should be the essential reforms, including the indefinite re-election of the president: “We have to regulate, once and for all, the issue of presidential re-election, start a new cycle of the Presidency and make it clear: 1, 2, 3 or until the people want it.”

He also spoke about expanding the mandates of deputies and mayors, eliminating political party financing for electoral campaigns, legalizing independent candidacies and transforming the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

Official party deputies New ideas They did not report the reasons behind the reform.

They only stated in the document that they seek “to have the necessary tools to face the social realities that Salvadorans demand in the face of the constant changes that the world is rapidly facing”. and that the reform would serve to face “any event that requires the Constitution’s reinforced protection of fundamental rights”.

On the opposition side, deputy Claudia Ortizof the party LET’S GOcriticized the ruling party and accused it of “self-prescribed power” and “remove any limits on power.”

“They should be ashamed because this constitutes a betrayal of the people… We are governed by the whims and caprices of a group that is in power,” Ortiz added.

He also accused the party in power of adjusting the number of votes needed to ratify constitutional reforms to the result obtained in the elections at the beginning of March this year.

“What happens if a few days after May 1st or on May 1st these deputies decide to increase the legislature from three to five years? They will be able to do this”, warned Ortiz.

Representative Reynaldo Cardoza, from Concertación Nacional, a party allied with Bukelereplied Ortiz.

“Of course, (legislative) electoral periods can be extended, as long as it is for the well-being of the Salvadoran people,” said Cardoza.

According to Cardoza, it is onerous and expensive for citizens to vote every three years to elect deputies.

Opposition deputy Marcela Villatoro, from the party SANDregretted that “New ideas “They do everything without consultation, imposing their agenda, without caring that they threaten legal security, as they modify laws at will.”

“We are not taking anything away from the Constitution, what we are doing is adapting it to the changes that the new reality requires”, explained Christian Guevara, head of the Novas Ideias group.

Source: Elcomercio