The president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Dora Martínez de Barahona, and also the judge Rubén Meléndez, support the thesis that the president must request a permit or license during the last six months of his government.

Martínez maintains that the request meets the constitutional purpose and must be requested in a timely manner, six months in advance of the next presidential term, that is, December 1.

She believed that the release of the position is due to guaranteeing equitable electoral competition and preventing Bukele from using public resources for campaign propaganda, something that opposition sectors accuse him of.

While Meléndez asserted that the ruler must request the permit on the last day of November 2023 for it to take effect from December 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024.

In this regard, the president of the Legislative Assembly, Ernesto Castro, stated that the request can be studied until the last of November and would be seen by the legislative forum in its last plenary session of the month.

According to the Constitution, in the absence of the president, he must be relieved by the vice president or one of his designees.

Article 152 of the Magna Carta stipulates that “No candidates for President of the Republic may be those who have held the Presidency of the Republic for more than six months, consecutive or not, during the immediately preceding period, or within the last six months, prior to the beginning of the presidential term.”

During his entire mandate, Bukele did not present to the Legislature shortlists of people from whom to elect two appointees to the Presidency, who, according to article 152, cannot be the spouse or relatives in the fourth degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity of those who have exercised the Presidency.

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