Full Breakdown
Bukele Secures Nomination for a Third Consecutive Term in 2027
7/14/2026, 10:00:10 PM
Bukele Secured Party Nomination
On July 13 2026, El Salvador’s ruling Nuevas Ideas party announced that President Nayib Bukele, 44, will again run for president in the February 2027 general election, with Vice President Félix Ulloa as his running mate. Bukele ran unopposed in the party’s primary, and the internal vote was confirmed by the party on its Twitter account the following day.
Constitutional Reforms That Permit Indefinite Reelection
A July 2025 legislative package dismantled the constitutional ban on consecutive presidential terms. The amendment removed penalties that stripped citizenship from advocates of reelection and eliminated the restriction barring a president from seeking office after serving the previous term. It also extended the presidential mandate from five to six years and moved the election calendar forward to 2027. Previously, a September 2021 court ruling had allowed only one consecutive term, and the constitution required a ten-year gap before a former president could run again.
Crime-Reduction Policies and Statistics
Bukele’s administration attributes its high approval ratings to a security strategy launched in 2022, including a four-year state of emergency that has incarcerated more than 90,000 people. Government data show homicide cases fell from 6,656 murders in 2015—a rate of 106 per 100,000—to a record low of 82 murders in 2025. Human-rights groups, however, report that over 500 detainees have died in prison, largely from health issues but also from violence.
Official Statements & Responses
Bukele defended the reforms, stating, “90% of developed countries allow the indefinite reelection of their head of government and nobody bats an eye.” He added that when “a small, poor country like El Salvador tries to do the same, it suddenly becomes the end of democracy.”
Criticism & Opposition
Legal scholars and human-rights advocates argue the changes undermine democratic safeguards. “Remaining in power is to avoid accountability for grave acts of corruption and crimes against humanity,” said Ingrid Escobar, lawyer and director of the Salvadoran group Humanitarian Legal Aid, calling the bid for a third term unconstitutional.
