SAN SALVADOR.- The Legislative Assembly of The Savior formally inaugurated the new legislature with the election of the members of its board of directors, which will once again be dominated by representatives of the party New ideasfounded by the president Nayib Bukele and clear winner of the February elections.
He Parliament It has a new composition, after reducing the number of seats from 84 to 60, and will have fewer commissions. The ruling party has 54 deputies, which has allowed Ernesto Castro to be re-elected without problems as president of the legislative body.
Nuevas Ideas will also hold the two vice-presidencies, as well as one of the three secretaries. The opposition Arena party, which has two seats, was absent from the voting considering that it had not been taken into account in the process of forming the table despite having more representation from other parties.
The renewal derived from the last elections is not yet complete, since Bukele still has to take office on June 1 for what will be his second consecutive term, after circumventing with a leave of absence the limit established by the Constitution for a president to repeat in office. The charge.
“They remain in office” for the period that begins this Wednesday and ends on April 30, 2027, Castro said before the plenary session.
Changes in the Constitution
With the large parliamentary majority, Bukele’s party has more than the votes necessary to approve and ratify possible reforms to the Constitution or approve any proposed law from the Executive.
The previous Congress, also dominated by the president’s party, voted on Monday in favor of modifying a constitutional norm to accelerate possible changes to the Magna Carta, an initiative promoted by the Bukele Government.
“The issue of ratification (of the constitutional reform) remains pending, when the plenary session decides to submit it for consideration. Today it did not happen, it was considered that other aspects had to be resolved before ratification,” explained a spokesperson for the ruling party.
The text that congressmen have yet to ratify provides that changes to the Constitution can be approved during the same legislature. Currently, these modifications have to be approved during one legislature and ratified in the next.
To be approved, this constitutional reform project needs the support of three quarters of the new parliamentarians.
Jurists, analysts and activists warned that the change to the Constitution proposed by the Government makes it easier for Bukele to make future modifications of the Constitution and would be a step towards a “dictatorial scheme” as it lacks a “counterbalance.”
The social worker, Gustavo Deleón, 63, declared that he hopes that the new legislators “really respond to the needs of the people and not only to power groups.”
This Wednesday, the country’s mayors also took office for a period of three years, whose municipalities were reduced from 262 to 44, after a reform of the electoral law.
Source: With information from AFP / Europa Press
