El Salvador President Nayib Bukele nominated for reelection despite constitutional questions
Associated PressSAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — President Nayib Bukele was officially nominated by his New Ideas party Sunday to run for reelection next year, brushing aside objections from legal experts and opposition figures who say El Salvador’s constitution prohibits his candidacy. New Ideas also announced that current Vice President Felix Ulloa would run for reelection in the ballot scheduled for Feb. 4, 2024. Constitutional lawyers maintain that Bukele’s candidacy would violate at least four articles of the constitution, including Article 154, which states: “The presidential term will be five years and will begin and end on June 1, without the person who has held the presidency being able to continue in their functions even one more day.” But Ulloa, who is a well-known lawyer, said Bukele just has to ask Congress for a leave of absence by Dec. 1 in order to be able to run again. “But the greatest party in history spoke today, and on February 4th, 2024, the Salvadoran people will have the last word.” While constitutional bans on reelection were once common in Latin America — where some countries have a history of “caudillo” strongmen perpetuating themselves in power — those term limits have been removed, overturned or ignored in a number of cases, including Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia.