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The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, was proclaimed this Monday as the presidential candidate for the ruling party Nuevas Ideas for the general elections scheduled for February 28, 2027, according to the results of the internal elections published by the political organization itself.
On its website, Nuevas Ideas published the list of the "winners, according to the total votes counted arranged from highest to lowest," accompanied by a photograph of Bukele identifying him as the presidential candidate, reports the agency Efe.
The organization did not report the percentage of votes obtained by the president nor specified if he faced competition during the internal process. So far, Bukele has also not publicly commented on his nomination.
The nomination comes after, in July 2025, the Legislative Assembly —where Nuevas Ideas holds a substantial majority of 57 out of 60 deputies— approved a constitutional reform that eliminated the restrictions on presidential reelection.
The reform, processed swiftly, also extended the presidential term from five to six years, eliminated the second round of elections, and moved the general elections up to 2027 through a transitional provision.
The opposition parties criticized these changes and described them as a setback for Salvadoran democracy.
Bukele is already serving a second consecutive term. His reelection in 2024 also generated controversy, as the Salvadoran Constitution explicitly prohibited immediate reelection, although a ruling by the Constitutional Chamber, comprised of magistrates appointed by the current Legislative Assembly, enabled his candidacy.
If he wins the 2027 elections, he would remain in the presidency until 2033, accumulating 14 consecutive years in power since he took office in 2019.
A large part of Bukele's political support has been built on his security strategy. Since March 2022, El Salvador has been under a state of emergency that has allowed for the detention of more than 91,500 people and has been presented by the Government as the main factor behind the drastic reduction of violence attributed to the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs.
However, international organizations such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have expressed concern over reports of arbitrary detentions, restrictions on procedural guarantees, and deaths of individuals in state custody during the period of the state of emergency.
Despite these criticisms, Bukele maintains high levels of public support. Various surveys published in 2026 place his approval rating between 85.5% and 94%, while his voting intention ranges from 70.9% to 81.7% leading up to the 2027 elections.
The next step to formalize his aspiration will be the official registration of his candidacy with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, a process scheduled between October 1 and November 19, 2026.
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