The reform to article 248, which was approved on January 29th by the legislature, uncovered a number of criticisms from opponents who consider the action as an attempt by the ruling party to perpetuate itself in power with the current president Nayib Bukele.

The initiative´s reform was adopted after only 27 minutes of discussion, which, according to an article by Miguel Saavedra published by the digital newspaper El Independiente, reveals “a worrying disregard for deliberation and consensus.” “This act of legal engineering not only threatens to reverse the democratic progress achieved after decades of struggle but also puts at risk the fundamental rights and sovereignty of the Salvadoran people,” the report said.

The pretext of eliminating the “Political Debt,” which is the state financing provided to political parties for their campaigns, was used as a smokescreen, said Saavedra, who believes that the underlying and true objective was to reform the Constitution, which according to him seems to have been the main plan of those who hold the power.

In the same sense, constitutional lawyer Enrique Anaya, expressed that the reform of the Constitution “cannot be an instrument to favor a government.” He also stated that the ratification of the reform to article 248 gives the legislatures the green light to modify the Constitution of the Republic at any time.

The reform eliminates a mechanism that guaranteed a balance between stability and development, by allowing citizens to express their opinions on changes to the Constitution through voting in legislative elections.

Although the reform has already been approved, the debate threatens to persist and be prolonged in the coming days despite the fact that the Nuevas Ideas party controls all the stages of power.

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