El Salvador’s Lawmakers Approve Indefinite Presidential Reelection, Extend Term Limits

The Legislative Assembly said the changes to the country’s constitution will stabilize electoral cycles and avoid a state of permanent campaigning.
El Salvador’s Lawmakers Approve Indefinite Presidential Reelection, Extend Term Limits
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele gives a press conference in San Salvador, El Salvador, Jan. 14, 2025. AP/Salvador Melendez
|Updated:
0:00

El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly approved constitutional changes on July 31, allowing a president to seek re-election indefinitely and extending presidential terms from five to six years, paving the way for President Nayib Bukele to serve potential future terms.

Lawmaker Ana Figueroa, of Bukele’s New Ideas party, which holds a supermajority in the legislature, proposed the bill that amends five articles of the constitution, including eliminating the second round of a presidential election in which the top two vote-getters face off.