Constitutional reforms may open the way to a single party in El Salvador – opposition leader

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The constitutional reform bill that the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, will receive in mid-September may open the door to a single-party system by eliminating the prohibition currently expressed in the Constitution, warned the executive director of the organization Cristosal, Noah Bullock, in an interview with Efe.

On September 15, the Salvadoran vice president, Felix Ulloa, will deliver to Bukele a draft with more than 200 constitutional reforms that he worked on with a group of lawyers at the request of the Salvadoran president.

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According to the activist, this draft eliminates Article 85 of a single official party in the country.

The Constitution now states that the official single party “is incompatible with the democratic system and with the form of government established” and described in the mentioned article.

According to the constitutional text, the system of Government is a bedrock rule that cannot be reformed.

“Elements are seen (in the preliminary draft) that allow you to imagine that what is sought in the end is to normalize and leave in the Constitution a system of government of a party that has a firm control over the other institutions”, he indicated.

When reviewing the document containing the reforms published on the Presidency’s website, there is no article prohibiting the existence of a single party.

For the human rights defender, with the majority that the ruling party has in the Legislative Assembly and after the “coup d’état of May 1”, “it can be seen that they are trying to open the door to modifying the system of government with this new possibility of a single party in the country”.

Bukele came to power under the Great Alliance for National Unity (GANA) banner after delaying his movement New Ideas (NI) registration as a party.

Last February, the president recognized himself as NI when the formation won 56 deputies out of 84.

MORE CONCERNS

After a study of the reform package, Bullock pointed out that he is concerned about the possibility of armed groups outside the Army and the National Civil Police (PNC).

Article 7 of the current Constitution states that “the existence of armed groups of a political, religious or trade union nature is prohibited”. While the draft bill states that “the existence of armed groups is prohibited except in cases provided for by law”.

In the past, the GANA party has favored armed groups of civilians to combat gangs.

“It opens the door to an even greater militarization of society and even a return to a time when there were several armed groups” and “these groups were responsible for the worst human rights violations,” Bullock said. “These are very troubling things from a historical perspective and a human rights experience in this country and around the world,” he added.

PROJECT TO “CONSOLIDATE” POWER

The Cristosal director pointed out that the context in which the draft bill is presented “makes it very difficult for us to believe that the real motive of this reform is the vindication of human rights.”

He pointed out that in the little more than two years of administration, Bukele’s administration “has attacked the rule of law” and “at no time has wanted to abide by or obey constitutional norms, and now they say they want to change the rules”.

On the other hand, he pointed out that “it seems that they want to change the Magna Carta of this country in a communicational function” to generate impact. “For us, it is not in function of the interest of the nation, but rather (it is) a project of consolidation of power, and we see this in the same language of the Government”, he underlined.

IS A NEW CONSTITUTION NECESSARY?

The activist pointed out that one of the main questions in this reform process is the need to reform the Constitution, but “we do not hear an answer”. He also pointed out that with the number of reforms, a new Magna Carta would be generated.

“The first impression is that it is not a constitutional reform, but that as a whole the 215 reformed articles is a constitutional substitution, a new Constitution”, he indicated.

He added that it is not necessarily a constitutional reform to recognize certain rights, but it is enough to create secondary legislation.

“If you are trying to vindicate or protect certain human rights, the quickest and clearest way is not through a constitutional reform that comes into effect by 2024, (but) it is through secondary laws,” he said.

He stated that to guarantee the rights of women and the LGTBI community, constitutional reform is necessary.

“We consider that the current Constitution provides for the recognition of all human rights, with some exceptions”, such as “same-sex marriage and certain limitations in the three grounds for abortion”, he added.