President Nayib Bukele announced Thursday night on El Salvador’s Independence Day that he will seek re-election to a second five-year term.
Bukele’s anticipated announcement came one year after the new justices of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court appointed by his allies in the Legislative Assembly ordered the Supreme Electoral Court to allow consecutive re-election despite the country’s constitutional ban.
Bukele made the announcement during a televised speech with his wife and young daughter at his side. Bukele’s current term ends in 2024.
The president enjoys extremely high popularity, but has faced growing criticism from human rights groups and foreign governments about his concentration of power and a state of exception that has been in place suspending some constitucional rights since late March.
