A few hours before Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele assumes his second term as president of El Salvador, preparations for his inauguration are almost ready.
Bukele will take office this June 1, at the National Palace, the seat of government located in the Historic Center of San Salvador. The inauguration ceremony is scheduled to begin at 8:00 am local time.
For several weeks, the historic building was remodeled by government employees, who remodeled the façade, replaced century-old tiles and relocated large trees for the event.
Several screens have also been placed around the area on which the event will be broadcast to citizens attending the square. Bukele’s investiture will be an event open to the public.
The government has reported that some 3,000 traffic police will be deployed to guide vehicular traffic in the area.
Likewise, Congress decreed June 1 as a day of paid leave for the private sector.
Bukele achieved a landslide victory in February last when he won the elections with 2.7 million votes, which is equivalent to 82.6% of the valid votes and 41% of the electoral roll.
This is the second time in 84 years that a Salvadoran president has been re-elected consecutively and with a high level of popularity.
Bukele will assume the presidency of El Salvador for five more years, until 2029, between security achievements and a weakened economy.
When Bukele entered the presidency in June 2019, the homicide rate was 38 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data from the tripartite table made up of the Police, the Prosecutor’s Office and Legal Medicine. In 2023, the rate closed at 2.4.
In Bukele’s publicized “war on gangs” that has characterized his mandate, El Salvador imposed a exception regime which allowed him to capture any gang member or alleged gang collaborator without a court order, a strategy with which he managed to dismantle the gangs in the neighborhoods.
But not all of the security strategy has been rosy: arbitrary or unjustified capture has been the main complaint of human rights organizations that they question that the emergency regime has violated the rights of at least 6,436 Salvadorans.
Controversial re-election
The last president to be re-elected in El Salvador before Nayib Bukele was Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, a dictator who came to power through a coup d’état in 1931.
This time, Bukele relied on one of five articles of the Constitution that refer to presidential re-election to run for office again. This is despite the fact that the Constitution says that the presidential term is five years and begins and ends on June 1, “without the person who has exercised the Presidency being able to continue in his functions not even one more day.”
However, Bukele was appointed by the Plenary Court and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal for re-election. Also, the majority of the population supported the continuity of his political project, according to various surveys.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels Youtube, WhatsApp and to newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.
Add Comment