- El Salvador’s controversial President Nayib Bukele is on the verge of a clear victory in the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Central American country.
- This is despite the fact that according to the constitution he would not be allowed to run for a second term.
- Bukele rejected allegations of an autocratic government.
After almost a third of the votes were counted, the conservative head of state received a vote share of almost 83 percent, as the Supreme Electoral Court announced late on Sunday evening (local time). Bukele is known for his tough approach to crime and his authoritarian course.
While the votes were still being counted, the 42-year-old declared himself the winner of Sunday’s elections. His party Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) also won at least 58 of the 60 seats in parliament, he wrote on the online platform X.
Thousands of cheering supporters gathered shortly afterwards to celebrate in front of the National Palace in the capital San Salvador. Around 6.2 million citizens were called to vote, including 741,000 Salvadorans abroad.
Legend:
Cheering crowd in front of the presidential palace in San Salvador.
Keystone/AP Photo/Moises Castillo
In a press conference on Sunday, Bukele rejected accusations that he was ruling his country autocratically and imprisoning innocent people en masse.
“El Salvador was the murder capital of the world,” said the former advertising executive. Now it is the safest country on the American continent. The election result will clearly express the will of the Salvadorans.
Legend:
The 42-year-old Bukele took a six-month leave of absence for the election campaign. Here he waves to his supporters on Sunday, accompanied by his wife Gabriela Rodriguez, from the balcony of the presidential palace in San Salvador.
Keystone/AP Photo/Salvador Melendez
El Salvador’s constitution actually prohibits the direct re-election of the president. However, constitutional judges loyal to the government allowed Bukele to run for a second, five-year term.
In order to circumvent the ban, the head of state took a leave of absence for six months on December 1st – until the day of the planned inauguration on June 1st. Meanwhile, a loyal official formally took over day-to-day political affairs, meaning Bukele’s influence remained virtually unimpaired.
State of emergency in the fight against gangs
The former mayor of the capital San Salvador has been president since 2019 and, among other things, introduced the digital currency Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador. In the fight against the criminal gangs in the country, the so-called Maras, he declared a state of emergency in March 2022.
As a result, basic rights such as freedom of assembly were restricted. More than 75,000 suspected gang members have been arrested since then. Critics warn of a further weakening of the separation of powers and democratic control under Bukele’s aegis in Central America’s smallest country.