The party of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele approved constitutional changes allowing indefinite presidential reelection and the extension of presidential terms to six years.
The initiative also gets rid of the presidential runoff, which pitted the two top performers in a second round. It was overwhelmingly approved by Bukele's New Ideas party, which holds a supermajority in Congress. Only three of Congress' 60 lawmakers opposed.
Bukele's party had already allowed him to continue in power despite constitutional bans. Last year he won reelection with overwhelming support after Supreme Court judges elected by his party allowed him to run for reelection.
The Associated Press noted that observers have worried about the possibility that Bukele will seek to perpetuate himself in office for years, especially since his party voted to remove the judges of the Supreme Court's constitutional chamber, removing the last constitutional check in place.
The outlet also made a brief analysis of the political situation in the country, saying many Salvadorans have chosen to overlook accusations of human rights abuses and deals with powerful gangs because of the improved security situation.
Several investigations have accused Bukele of cutting a deal with the leaders of the MS-13 gang in the early years of his presidency. In May, a gang leader revealed a deal to help propel him to power and keep him there.
Carlos Cartagena Lopez, a leader of the Barrio 18 Revolutionaries, made the revelations while talking to El Faro, an outlet critical of Bukele.
The now president launched a war on gangs in 2022 after a massacre where 87 people were killed by criminal organizations. Ever since, his administration has incarcerated tens of thousands of people.
According to the Washington Office on Latin America, by March this year there were over 110,000 people in prison in the country, which now has the highest incarceration rate in the world. El País noted that 400 people have also died without trial, many with signs of torture.
The Bukele government has also substantially reduced violent crime since, with the homicide rate falling by more than 80%, according to the National Civil Police.
Bukele has long denied negotiations, but his administration has resisted extraditing MS-13 leaders to the U.S., raising speculation about his desire to keep their testimony out of American courts.
Moreover, his government also reportedly offered the Trump administration a 50% discount in the fee it charges for holding suspected gang members at its infamous mega-prison in exchange for receiving nine MS-13 members living in the United States.
The offer, accepted by the Trump administration, was reported by CNN and was part of negotiations between the two governments before hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members were sent to the Central American country.
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