“Certainly there are six articles (of the Constitution) that absolutely prohibit (presidential) re-election, that is evident, it is prohibited, but experts, even constitutionalists, say that there is an article that admits it,” Escobar Alas said at a conference Press in the Metropolitan Cathedral.
Who should interpret the Constitution is the Constitutional Chamber, said the prelate, noting that it “has already ruled in favor, since it interprets that article (152) that certainly allows re-election.”
The Nuevas Ideas party has already made official the candidacy of President Nayib Bukele for the February 2024 elections, in which he would seek his re-election for another five years despite the fact that constitutional lawyers and opposition politicians assure that the magna carta prohibits it. The candidacy of Vice President Félix Ulloa was also made official.
Ulloa explained that, once the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) makes Bukele’s candidacy official, the president would have the obligation to request permission from Congress to be absent from office before December 1, six months before the start of the presidential term. In turn, legislators would find it necessary to choose the person who would occupy the position during the president’s leave.
The Constitution prohibits presidential re-election, but in its resolution, the Chamber interpreted that an article of the magna carta allows the participation of the president in the electoral contest for a second time, and that it will be the people who make the decision at the polls.
The Chamber also ordered the TSE to comply with the resolution. Almost immediately, the court stated that it would abide by that provision.
Constitutionalist lawyers and opposition politicians have asked the TSE to declare the resolution inapplicable, but it was explained that the final decision would always remain in the hands of the same Chamber, which already authorized the candidacy.
Escobar Alas emphasized that: “Maybe if he (Bukele) goes to the election, when the election is made, it will be seen if the people are in favor or not.”
Bukele, who became president on June 1, 2019 and maintains a popularity rating above 80%, has already received the support of his allied parties in Congress. The levels of acceptance of him increased with the application of the state of emergency to combat gangs.
According to the most recent survey of the Institute of Public Opinion (Iudop) of the José Simeón Cañas Catholic University (UCA), Bukele is well evaluated: 70.8% of those surveyed consider that he is doing things well, 72.6% believe that the president’s image has improved, 97.7% think that violence has decreased and 81.8% that the emergency regime has helped a lot to control crime.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
