In a year and 9 months, he has made statements in his chain that do not match his management style.
On Sunday, March 21, the President of the Republic addressed the Salvadorans again through a national network.
The purpose of this was to send a message of triumph after the overwhelming victory of the two parties, New Ideas and GANA, in the February 28 elections. After this, the ruling party seized the qualified majority of the legislature and the vast majority of the country’s mayors.
Unlike his previous networks, the president looked more restrained. This was a speech only, not surrounded by his cabinet or the usual group of policemen and military that allow him into their speeches.
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The main theme was to emphasize that his party’s triumph was democratic and that from May 1, the ruling party will have the control that the people decided to give it.
However, in his seemingly moderate speech, he maintained some of the rhetorical rules he has used for years.
His message, as usual, appealed to a story beginning on the day he came to power, as well as to disqualification of “traditional power groups,” a category that includes traditional political parties as well as their critics.
And in some passages of his speech, as has happened before, Bukele stepped away from the reality that has prevailed in the country since June 1, 2019, when he took over the reins of the country and brought up alleged attitudes and ways of exercising power. have no basis in the events of the past nearly 22 months.
A “democratic” triumph
There is no question that the president of the republic, Nayib Bukele, came to the presidency in 2019 with a broad validation of the population. On February 3 of that year, he obtained more than 53% of the vote and his support exceeded that of ARENA and the FMLN combined.
Likewise, in the parliamentary and municipal elections, the ruling party increased its number of votes. In summary, it is a reality that Salvadorans have decided to trust Bukele’s side to govern, enact laws and appoint second-degree civil servants.
But democracy is a form of government that goes beyond popular legitimacy. In other words, it is not enough to be elected democratically, it must be democratically governed.
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And that’s where Bukele’s words, his constant glorification of democracy, collide with the first wall of reality.
One of the most fundamental pillars of democratic life is free and fair elections. But in the election cycle that has just ended, the government has misused its resources and influence to favor the candidates promoting New Ideas and GANA.
During this election cycle, it was common to see civil servants converted, something forbidden by the constitution, electoral law and reinforced by the Constitutional Chamber, which recalled in 2014 that it is illegal to take advantage of a position and influence who has it. brings. to campaign.
REPUBLIC AND DEMOCRACY UNDER THE THREAT OF RIFLES
Nayib Bukele’s speech was full of allusions to democracy and even a mention of the republican system of government based on respect for the balance of power.
In his administration, however, he has used the power of the security forces as a leverage, something that breaks the spirit of the peace agreements and democratic institutions.
In this process, the military takeover of the Legislative Assembly stands out on February 9, 2020. At that point, the president used weapons and pressured delegates to vote for a loan.
Talking about a republic and democracy implies respecting the constitution, but in reality the government has gone in the opposite direction.
The same president called for a vote for the ruling party on election day, with no respect for legality. This attitude appears to be an exact copy of what former President Mauricio Funes did, who came out on February 2, 2014 to ask who would become his successor, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, in violation of the constitution.
The government also ignored the ban on inaugurating and promoting public works or other programs in the pre-election period. This provision is intended to avoid an unnecessary advantage in the elections.
And at the same time as the ruling party was taking advantage of an undue advantage through public funds, the opposition was competing “with tied hands.” This is because the government has not paid off the political debt, that is, the funding that the parties must receive from the state. This put the opposition at a clear disadvantage against a powerful state machine.
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On the other hand, the government chose not to pay out the Fodes that it is required by law to grant to the mayors. Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya even joked that this money may be paid out after the election.
With this, the executive managed to financially drown most of the country’s municipalities, which use this money not only for work and investment, but also for payroll and their day-to-day activities.
In summary, Salvadoran voters chose to give the majority to the Nueva Ideas and GANA consortium, but the terms of the election were not fair or balanced for all parties in the competition.
And democracy, which the president is now proclaiming, was present in the proceedings, but on a more careful analysis, the misuse of funds and the privileged megaphone of the state stand out.
Freedom of speech
In his speech, the president alluded to the fact that the “traditional power groups” no longer had any influence to enact legislation or promote second-degree appointments.
However, he said they can continue to express their views in communiqués, events or interviews, and confirmed that in El Salvador “freedom of expression is respected”.
While the Constitution recognizes this right in Article 6, his government’s actions have gone in the opposite direction. In less than two years in power, the president and his officials have harassed and humiliated journalists and critical citizens. This has led to hostilities and hate speech from government fanatics and even threats to those who question the government, something Bukele has never censored or condemned.
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The state’s regulatory power has also been used to try to intimidate the media, and the state’s directive has been used to critically punish those who practice journalism.
The government has closed channels of communication with independent media, which have no versions of officials, and access to public information is increasingly restricted, which acts as the necessary counterpart to freedom of speech.
Affected is the bourgeoisie, who are increasingly losing access to critical voices and legitimate questions and to whom the doors are closed to knowing how public funds are being used.
Along the same lines, the president offered dialogue with his opponents. But since he came to power, he has made numerous attempts to silence them and punish the opposition. And in the same speech, he said he will not negotiate with the FMLN and ARENA, parties he despises and which have been severely defeated, but which garnered nearly half a million votes in the recent election. If the ruling party chooses to ignore them completely, it will turn its back on a minority but a significant portion of the electorate.
And yes, democracy must respect the will of the majority, but with undisguised respect for the fundamental rights of minorities.