El Salvador abolishes term limits, allows Bukele to seek another term

El Salvador’s ruling party has passed a sweeping bill to overhaul the country’s electoral system, further cementing President Nayib Bukele’s grip on power and opening the door for him to extend his rule beyond constitutional limits.

The legislation, approved Thursday by Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas-dominated legislature, introduces significant changes to how elections are conducted and how electoral authorities are appointed.

Critics say the reforms will weaken independent oversight and tilt future elections even more heavily in the president’s favor.

The move comes more than a year after Bukele secured a second term in office, despite a long-standing constitutional ban on consecutive presidential re-election.

That restriction was effectively nullified by a 2021 ruling from the country’s top court — a court that had been controversially packed with Bukele loyalists following a legislative purge of sitting justices.

At the time, the court argued that preventing Bukele from seeking re-election violated his human rights, a decision widely condemned by legal scholars and international observers.

Thursday’s bill further reduces the power of El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal and streamlines control of the electoral process under agencies aligned with the executive.

It also alters rules governing party registration, campaign financing, and vote counting — all of which watchdog groups warn could undermine transparency and fairness in upcoming elections.

“This is not an electoral reform — it’s a power grab,” said opposition lawmaker Claudia Ortiz.

“The constitutional order is being dismantled piece by piece.”

Supporters of the bill argue it is part of Bukele’s broader campaign to modernize and “clean up” El Salvador’s political system, which he says has long been riddled with corruption and inefficiency.

The U.S. State Department and the Organization of American States have both expressed concern over El Salvador’s democratic trajectory under Bukele, citing increasing authoritarian tendencies, attacks on press freedom, and the erosion of judicial independence.

Bukele, one of Latin America’s most popular yet controversial leaders, has maintained high approval ratings due in large part to his crackdown on gang violence and promises of stability. But human rights groups and democratic institutions have raised alarms about the growing concentration of power in the executive branch.

The newly passed electoral reforms are expected to face legal challenges, though with Bukele allies controlling the judiciary, their outcome is widely seen as a foregone conclusion.