SAN SALVADOR (AP) 鈥� El Salvador’s ruling party on Monday ratified candidacy for February 2027 presidential elections, paving the way for a third consecutive term that has been highly criticized by lawyers and human rights advocates.
Bukele’s party Nuevas Ideas, which holds a held its internal elections Sunday and announced the results on Twitter on Monday. Vice President F茅lix Ulloa will once again be Bukele鈥檚 running mate.
Bukele, 44, as the region’s youngest president and has continued to enjoy high approval ratings.
His 鈥� with nearly 85% of the valid votes 鈥� was highly criticized by constitutional scholars for violating a ban on consecutive reelection. They accuse Bukele of to concentrate his power.
A allowed presidential reelection 鈥渇or one term only.鈥�
The ruling-party controlled Legislative Assembly then to allow indefinite presidential reelection. The reform eliminated the penalty of loss of citizenship rights for those who promoted presidential reelection and the ban on presidential candidacy for those who had served as president in the previous term.
This constitutional reform also extended the presidential term from five to six years and moved up the presidential elections to 2027. The constitution previously allowed reelection of a past president after 10 years out of office.
The president has defended the constitutional reforms approved by the legislative assembly.
Bukele stated that 鈥�90% of developed countries allow the indefinite reelection of their head of government and nobody bats an eye.鈥� He added that when a small, poor country like El Salvador tries to do the same, 鈥渋t suddenly becomes the end of democracy.鈥�
Salvadorans credit the president’s security policies, including a four-year state of emergency that has imprisoned more than 90,000 Salvadorans, for drastically reducing homicide rates and making them feel safer in the country.
In 2015, El Salvador registered one of its most violent years, with 6,656 murders and a
The country ended 2025 with a record low in homicides 鈥� 82 cases 鈥� according to government statistics.
More than 500 people have died in prison since the state of emergency, mainly for health reasons but some related to violence, according to human rights organizations.
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