By The newspaper
Apr 29, 2024, 9:44 PM EDT
The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved this Monday to reform an article of the Constitution that would allow expeditious reforms to the Magna Carta, in force since 1983, in the legislature that takes office on Wednesday and that maintains the vast majority of the Nuevas Ideas (NI) party. of President Nayib Bukele.
The initiative, approved by 66 votes from the ruling party and 16 votes against from the opposition, seeks to modify article 248 of the Constitution to allow reforms with three-quarters of the deputies elected in the same legislature, instead of the two-thirds required previously. , as reported by the EFE agency.
This article establishes that the only way to modify the Constitution is through approval in a legislature with a simple majority and its ratification with the vote of two-thirds of the legislators, that is, 56 parliamentarians.
The approved decree justifies the reform in the need to “have the necessary tools to face the social realities that Salvadorans demand in the face of the constant changes that the world is rapidly facing.”
Criticism of the Bukele government
The reform has generated controversy, with critics accusing the ruling party of wanting to “prescribe power” and eliminate limits on power.
Representative Claudia Ortiz, from the opposition party VAMOS, pointed out that the reform constitutes a betrayal of the people and that the ruling party is adjusting the number of votes necessary to ratify the constitutional reforms to the result obtained in the March elections.
For her part, deputy Marcela Villatoro, from the opposition Arena party, warned that the reform seeks to facilitate “express reforms” to the Constitution and criticized the decision to change the rules of the game at the last minute, EFE detailed.
In 2020, President Bukele appointed his vice president, Félix Ulloa, to coordinate the study and proposal to reform the Constitution. In 2021, Bukele received a draft to reform more than 200 articles of the Constitution, but it has not yet been presented to Congress.
The approved constitutional reform must be ratified by the next Legislative Assembly for it to come into force. With Nuevas Ideas occupying the majority of positions in the next legislative period, ratification is expected to be a mere formality, which has generated concern among the opposition and critical sectors.
With information from EFE.
Keep reading:
• Google opened its office in El Salvador together with Nayib Bukele and announced aid of $200,000 dollars
• They warn that Nayib Bukele’s model in El Salvador “is not the solution” to crime
• Nayib Bukele announced 5,000 free passports and tax exemption for professionals in El Salvador