SAN SALVADOR (AP) — El Salvador's ruling party on Monday ratified President Nayib Bukele’s candidacy for February 2027 presidential elections, paving the way for a third consecutive term that has been highly criticized by lawyers and human rights advocates.

Bukele's party Nuevas Ideas, which holds a supermajority in the legislative assembly, held its internal elections Sunday and announced the results on Twitter on Monday. Vice President Félix Ulloa will once again be Bukele’s running mate.

Bukele, 44, took office in June 2019 as the region's youngest president and has continued to enjoy high approval ratings.

His February 2024 reelection — with nearly 85% of the valid votes — was highly criticized by constitutional scholars for violating a ban on consecutive reelection. They accuse Bukele of illegally replacing the country's constitutional Court judges and attorney general to concentrate his power.

“Remaining in power is to avoid accountability for grave acts of corruption and crimes against humanity,” said Ingrid Escobar, lawyer and director of Salvadoran group Humanitarian Legal Aid, who called seeking a third term unconstitutional.

A September 2021 ruling by the constitutional Court allowed presidential reelection “for one term only.”

The ruling-party controlled Legislative Assembly then approved a constitutional reform in July 2025 to allow indefinite presidential reelection. The reform eliminated the penalty of loss of citizenship rights for those who promoted presidential reelection and the ban on presidential candidacy for those who had served as president in the previous term.

This constitutional reform also extended the presidential term from five to six years and moved up the presidential elections to 2027. The constitution previously allowed reelection of a past president after 10 years out of office.

The president has defended the constitutional reforms approved by the legislative assembly.

Bukele stated that “90% of developed countries allow the indefinite reelection of their head of government and nobody bats an eye.” He added that when a small, poor country like El Salvador tries to do the same, “it suddenly becomes the end of democracy.”

Salvadorans credit the president's security policies, including a four-year state of emergency that has imprisoned more than 90,000 Salvadorans, for drastically reducing homicide rates and making them feel safer in the country.

In 2015, El Salvador registered one of its most violent years, with 6,656 murders and a homicide rate of 106 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The country ended 2025 with a record low in homicides — 82 cases — according to government statistics.

More than 500 people have died in prison since the state of emergency, mainly for health reasons but some related to violence, according to human rights organizations.

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