The Organization of American States (OAS) recognized the results of El Salvador’s recent presidential elections, in which President Nayib Boucle was re-elected for a five-year term, taking particular note of the unprecedented circumstances that made it possible for President Boucle to run for re-election.
The OAS also expressed concern about the power the ruling government had gained.
In the preliminary stage reportThe OAS electoral mission, which observed Sunday’s presidential election, said the event was calm and peaceful, with electors heading to the polls in droves “without coercion” and leaving “no doubt” about the outcome. Ta.
Bukele won an overwhelming victory in the election, an unprecedented victory. re-election It received over 85% of the votes. his party, Nuevas Ideas (NI); obtained It won 58 of the 60 seats in Congress, effectively establishing one-party rule in El Salvador.
While the OAS panel stressed that “there was a wide gap between the winning candidate and the opposition, leaving no doubt about the election result,” the report said it also raised concerns about the circumstances of the election itself. emphasized. Contest. “
“The elections were held in unprecedented circumstances for El Salvador. One of the main reasons is that this is the first election held under a regime of exception since the signing of the peace agreement in 1992,” the report said. The book says: “The second reason is that for the first time since the country’s constitution took effect in 1983, a sitting president is running for an immediate second presidential term.”
Several articles in El Salvador’s constitution explicitly prohibit the president from seeking reelection. to punish Those who attempt it with complete loss of citizenship rights.
Bukele is unable to run for president and secure an immediate new presidential term thanks to a legal loophole granted by a controversial interpretation of Article 152 of El Salvador’s constitution issued by the Supreme Court in 2021. (This was several months after all the top judges had resigned.) replaced by a pro-Bukele majority in parliament.
The article’s interpretation is that a sitting president can run again as long as he resigns six months before the end of his five-year term. Bukele’s current term is scheduled to end in June 2024. Mr. Bukele will “resign” from office as president on November 30 to comply with the ruling, and his personal secretary Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara will assume the role of figurehead president until the start of Mr. Bukele’s second term. Left behind.
OAS observers recalled that the replacement of the Court’s chief justice was rejected by the OAS Secretariat and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights “taking into account the constitutional norms governing procedure and the Inter-American standards regarding removal.” Administrators of justice were not complied with. ”
The mission also referred to the current status of the Decree of Exception as one of the “unprecedented circumstances”.
El Salvador has been under de facto martial law since March 2022 to combat gang violence that once spiraled out of control in the country. The statute initially lasted 30 days, but has since been extended continuously and will soon enter its second year.
Exceptions restrict some civil liberties, but Things like freedom of association have enabled dramatic reductions in gang violence and crime. disappearance” Groups of the most dangerous gangs in the country, such as Mara Salvaturcha (MS-13) and 18th Street.
“The various stakeholders met by the mission expressed concern about the repeated extensions of the state of emergency, which, in their opinion, undermines its temporary nature,” the report said.
“The Salvadoran government has expressed the view that, despite improvements in security indicators, particularly the homicide rate, there are still a large number of gang members who must be arrested, which still justifies maintaining the system of exceptions. ” the report continued.
Finally, OAS observers expressed concern about the amount of power Bukele has amassed and the overwhelming number of seats secured by the New Idea party in Congress, which will effectively keep El Salvador under one-party control for the next five years.
Preliminary official results so far show presidential candidate Nayib Boukre with a significant advantage over his opponent. Similarly, according to the opinion polls presented, the party Nuevas Ideas will have a supermajority in the Legislative Assembly, which, if confirmed, will give the President of the Republic a mandate that requires a responsible and thorough democratic exercise. will be given the possibility of This will be decisive in securing the future of El Salvador’s democracy.
The report concluded by stressing that both the Inter-American Democratic Charter and the judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights establish the need to respect the separation of powers.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
