Event Summary
On 1 August 2025, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly, dominated by President Nayib Bukele’s New Ideas party, approved a constitutional reform eliminating presidential term limits, enabling the president to seek re-election indefinitely. The reform also extends presidential terms from five to six years.
This change was passed rapidly and without public consultation or meaningful legislative debate. The vote occurred just one day before the August holidays, a tactic increasingly used to pass major reforms when public scrutiny is minimal. Civil society organisations and citizens were not informed or given the opportunity to weigh in.
This marks the second major constitutional change in 2025 alone, continuing a pattern of consolidating power with no public participation. Earlier reforms in January were similarly rushed and approved without public input or parliamentary scrutiny, even targeting constitutional articles considered non-amendable. The repeated disregard for democratic processes and civic engagement represents a serious erosion of state openness and responsiveness to civil society.