San Salvador.- The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador (TSE) stated Inadmissible a request submitted by a group of lawyers in which they requested to declare inapplicable a resolution of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court that would allow the immediate re-election of President Nayib Bukele.
This was reported this Friday by the lawyer Rafael Garciaguirre at a press conference and noted that the TSE, whose magistrates have said that they will abide by the Supreme Court’s resolution, argued that the request is “diffuse.”
“The petition is declared inadmissible, arguing that the petition is diffuse,” said the lawyer, adding that the TSE’s decision does not have “trial elements to understand that this resolution is in accordance with the law and the Constitution.”
He added that they will file an appeal “knowing that the Court itself will declare it inadmissible” and indicated that they also have the option of seeking international instances.
In September 2021, the magistrates of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) issued a ruling in which a change of criteria regarding immediate re-election is reflected.
The judges, accused by the United States of being “loyal” to the Bukele Executive and elected in an irregular process in Congress, pointed out that the prohibition of immediate re-election is for a ruler who has been in power for 10 years.
Before this change, in previous rulings a president had to finish his 5-year term and wait 10 to seek the Presidency again.
Bukele announced his intention to seek reelection in September 2022, making him the first president of the Salvadoran democratic stage with the option of seeking immediate reelection.
Various lawyers, including the Faculty of Jurisprudence of the state University of El Salvador (UES), have indicated that Bukele’s re-election would entail the violation of various articles of the Constitution, such as the one that states that the person who has held the Presidency may not “continue in their functions not one more day.”
