El Salvador’s congress has approved constitutional reforms that abolish presidential term limits, extend presidential terms from five years to six and bring the next election forward to 2027. The measure means Nayib Bukele can run an unlimited number of times, a profound change for a country where presidents were previously constrained by explicit term rules.
The reform passed under an expedited procedure and was backed by 57 lawmakers aligned with Bukele, while only three opposition members voted against it. One opposition MP said democracy had died in El Salvador. The president of the Legislative Assembly, Ernesto Castro, responded by thanking fellow deputies for making history. Those reactions capture the political divide around Bukele’s rule: his supporters see a decisive break with the past, while his critics see a rapid concentration of power.
Bukele has been in office since 2019 and remains one of the most polarizing leaders in Latin America. His tough anti-gang campaign has driven down murder rates and made him popular with many voters, but human rights groups say the crackdown has also produced mass arbitrary arrests. The BBC report says an estimated 75,000 people have been detained under emergency measures that have been extended repeatedly, and critics argue that the new constitutional changes will entrench one-party rule.
The legal background matters. Bukele won a second term last year despite a clear constitutional prohibition, after El Salvador’s top court ruled in 2021 that it was his human right to run again. The new reforms make that controversial interpretation unnecessary going forward by scrapping term limits entirely. They also shorten the current presidential term by two years so that presidential, legislative and municipal elections can be synchronized in 2027.
For Bukele, the change formalizes a political reality that had already begun to take shape. For opponents, it confirms fears that the country is moving away from competitive democracy and toward a system where a popular president, backed by loyal institutions, can stay in office indefinitely. Civil-society groups quoted in the report say the reform was pushed through too quickly and without serious public debate. Rights group Cristosal called it a step toward an autocratic model.
The evidence in the packet supports a simple conclusion: El Salvador has rewritten the rules of presidential power in Bukele’s favor. Whether the move is remembered as a democratic mandate or a constitutional rupture will depend on how the country’s institutions, voters and critics respond between now and the next election.
The timing of the change is as important as the constitutional language itself. By moving elections to 2027 and giving the current president a longer runway, lawmakers have pulled forward the moment at which voters will have to decide whether Bukele’s security record outweighs the risks of concentrating power. The evidence suggests that debate is now less about whether the system changed than about how much resistance remains, and whether opposition parties can rebuild enough strength to matter in the next cycle.
That means the next election will be fought under rules that look very different from the old Salvadoran system, with the president no longer constrained by the same term-limit barrier.
