El Salvador scraps term limits, boosting Nayib Bukele

What happened

El Salvador's Legislative Assembly Thursday approved constitutional changes that will allow presidents to seek reelection an indefinite number of times, extend presidential terms to six years from five, and scrap presidential runoff votes.

The measures passed quickly and without debate, with all 54 members of President Nayib Bukele's New Ideas party and three allied lawmakers voting in favor and the 60-seat chamber's three opposition lawmakers opposed.

Who said what

The legislation will allow Bukele to "further consolidate the almost total power he already holds in the impoverished Central American country," The Wall Street Journal said, citing opponents and analysts. President since 2019, Bukele won reelection last year "with almost 85% of the vote after the country's high court, stacked with loyalists," allowed him to ignore the constitution's clear prohibition on seeking a second term.

"Today, democracy has died in El Salvador," said opposition legislator Marcela Villatoro. Ana Figueroa, the lawmaker from Bukele's party who introduced the constitutional changes, said they would give El Salvador's voters the "power to decide how long you support your president." Bukele, 44, "remains one of the most popular leaders in the region, largely due to his across-the-board crackdown on gangs," Reuters said. An estimated "75,000 people have been arrested under emergency measures that have been repeatedly extended," the BBC said.

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What next?

A "second vote of the legislature" is required before the constitutional changes can be ratified, the Journal said.