The Congress of El Salvador, dominated by the ruling party, On Thursday night, President Nayib granted Bukele a six-month license, demanding the president’s immediate re-election. in the February 2024 general elections despite the claims This is unconstitutional.
“Grant President Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez a leave of absence for a period of 6 months from December 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024, which must be used without pay and with all the privileges of the position.” He read the decree, which was approved with 67 votes of 84 deputies and exempt from action.
This is the latest precedent for a president seeking immediate re-election. Under the dictatorship of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez In 1935.
Lawmakers also voted for Bukele, who did not appear before Congress in person to request a license. protect your immunitythus, he could not be criminally prosecuted for any complaint without it going through Congress.
The decree law, whose effect will begin one day after its publication in the Official Gazette, also gives license to vice president Félix Ulloa, who wants to be re-elected together with Bukele on behalf of the ruling party Nuevas Ideas (NI). The document states that the license “never severs the bond between the official and the institution he represents, but only suspends the exercise of the powers or public duties required by his office.” According to the decree, this means that Bukele “no longer performs the administrative function or activity required by the office of the president, without, of course, abandoning the office he holds and the privileges he enjoys.”
This license is the final requirement set out in the dubious decision of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals dated 2021 and Elected by the ruling party without following due processThus, Bukele will run for a new post in the February 4 elections. The decision states that “the president who is a presidential candidate for a second term must request a license within six months before the beginning of the next term.”
Before this change in criteria, which various lawyers said was not a legal authority because the selection of judges did not take place according to the legal process. A president had to wait 10 years after completing his term of office. In March 2021 and before becoming president, Bukele stated that in El Salvador, the Constitution does not allow for the immediate re-election of a president.
Rep. Johnny Wright of the opposition party Nuestro Tiempo (NT) warned before the vote that the license to participate in the campaign was not protected by the Constitution. He noted that the constitution itself prohibits immediate re-election, so Bukele’s justification did not fall within the parameters of being a “duly proven serious case.” “Power in El Salvador today cannot comply or comply with the rules. “The rules are adapted to the government, to deliver us,” said Wright, adding that this situation “is a real tragedy for our country, the region and the world.” Claudia Ortiz, representative from the opposition party VAMOS, said: “You cannot license something that is illegal, the Constitution “You cannot license something that violates the law,” he said.
Secretary, the first woman in this position
Congress also approved this Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara, Nayib Bukele’s current private secretary, sits in the Presidential chair The president, on the other hand, is focusing on his election campaign. Thus, as of December 1, Rodríguez de Guevara will become the first woman to hold the Presidency of El Salvador in the history of the Central American country. “Citizen Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara is elected in the manner determined by the President for the current presidential term ending May 31, 2024,” reads the decree, which was approved by 84 deputies with 67 votes in favor and 11 against. .