2023-11-30 19:27:34
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, is expected to request this Thursday before the Legislative Assembly a leave of absence from his position starting on the 1st. December, six months before he concludes his term as head of the Executive, to dedicate himself to the electoral campaign in search of his re-election in 2024, despite criticism that calls the measure unconstitutional.
This would be the last requirement, established in a questioned ruling by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court in 2021 chosen by the ruling party, for Bukele to compete for a new mandate in the February 4 elections.
(Also read: Nayib Bukele asks the Salvadoran prosecutor to ‘investigate’ his cabinet: this is why).
Below are five keys to explain the current Salvadoran political situation:
Would Bukele be absent?
The September 2021 ruling of the Supreme Court dictates that “the president who has run as a presidential candidate for a second term must be required to request a license during the six months prior” to the start of the next term.
Bukele would be absent from his position from Friday the 1st. December and it is expected that the Legislative Assembly, with a large pro-government majority, will hear this Thursday the license request in which the president requests permission to be absent.
Photo:
Marvin RECINOS / AFP
The above would have the objective of “achieving agreement with article 218 of the Constitution, which establishes the prohibition of taking advantage of one’s position to carry out electoral propaganda,” they indicated.
However, analysts consulted by EFE warned that the president has already carried out electoral propaganda, also using funds from the State and the Government.
Who will replace Bukele?
The Salvadoran Constitution states that, in the absence of the president and vice president, one of those designated to the Presidency will direct the Executive body. Along with granting the permit, Congress is expected to ratify the people proposed by Bukele appointed to the Presidency to replace him.
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Armando Bukele,
Bukele came to the Executive in 2019 with the far-right party Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional (Gana) as an electoral vehicle after the delay in the registration of his Nueva Ideas (NI) party.
The Salvadoran Constitution endorses the resignation of the President “for a duly proven serious cause, which the Legislative Assembly will qualify,” and does not establish that it is to dedicate himself to an electoral campaign since it prohibits re-election.
(Keep reading: Sofía Petro’s response to Nayib Bukele after mockery against Gustavo Petro).
According to various jurists, the president can send three proposals for a presidential appointee to Congress; if he does not do so, the Legislative body will be in charge of choosing the person. The appointee will assume his Presidential position on December 1 and leave it on May 30, 2024.
Campaign until January 2024
Outside of his presidential duties, Bukele has until January 31, 2024 to carry out his electoral campaign, which for presidential candidates began on October 3.
Under heavy security, Bukele went to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), in western San Salvador.
Photo:
Twitter @nuevasideas
The Electoral Code establishes that “electoral propaganda will only be allowed four months before the date established by Law for president and vice president, and two months before for deputies and Municipal Councils.”
The collegiate body prohibits defamation, slander and slander, and points out that those who “promote or participate in public disorders will be punished in accordance with common laws.”
Second term?
In a national radio and television network, broadcast on Tuesday night, President Bukele said that he “will leave his position” to dedicate himself to the electoral campaign for “a second term”, leaving out the word re-election.
However, in the resolution the judges of the Constitutional Chamber speak and enable re-election, thereby reversing a 2014 constitutional interpretation that prohibited presidential re-election in the following 10 years after leaving office.
Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador during an assembly.
Photo:
MARVIN RECINOS / AFP
The Salvadoran Constitution states that anyone who has held office “for more than six months, consecutive or not, during the immediately preceding period, cannot be a candidate for the Presidency.” The judges indicated that the 2014 interpretation is “erroneous” and pointed out that, in their opinion, the Constitution allows a citizen to be president for a maximum of 10 years.
(We recommend: Bukele publishes sarcasm with Petro’s message for Milei’s victory: ‘Without crying’).
Whose decision will it be?
Bukele also pointed out that “it will be the people’s decision,” in the 2024 elections, for him to return to the Presidency. The resolution states that the judges’ interpretation “leaves aside that allowing the president’s nomination to compete again for the presidency does not de facto imply that he will be elected.”
The constitutional judges, accused by the US of being “loyal” to the Bukele Executive, indicated that this “implies only that the people will have among their range of options the person who currently holds the presidency, and it is the people.” who decides whether to place trust in him again or opt for a different option.
“There is no way that the interpretation proposed in this document violates fundamental rights – neither of majorities nor of minorities – since the power to decide between a range of options is always left in the hands of the people,
EFE
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