In his chain, he made statements that did not correspond to his style of governing in a year and 9 months.
On Sunday, March 21, the President of the Republic addressed the Salvadorans again through a national channel.
The aim of this was to send a triumphant message after the overwhelming victory of his two parties, New Ideas and WIN, in the February 28 elections. After these, the bureaucracy was appointed by the qualified majority of the Legislature and the vast majority of mayors of the country.
Unlike his previous chains, the president looked more serene. This was a speech alone, not surrounded by his cabinet or the usual group of police and military who accuse him in his speeches.
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The main theme was to highlight that the victory of his party was democratic and that from May 1, the bureaucracy will have the control that the people decided to give it.
However, in seemingly moderate speech he maintained some of the rhetorical lines he has handled for years.
His message had, as usual, appeals to a story that begins the day he came to power, as well as disqualifications to the “traditional power groups”, a category that includes traditional political parties but also their critics.
And in some passages of his speech, as has happened before, Bukele moved away from the reality that has reigned in the country since June 1, 2019, when he assumed the reigns of the country, and raised alleged attitudes and forms of ‘exercise the power they have no grip on in the events of the last almost 22 months.
A “democratic” victory
It is indisputable that the President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele, came to the presidency in 2019 with a wide validation of the population. On February 3 this year he got more than 53% of the vote and his support was greater than that of ARENA and FMLN combined.
Also, in the legislative and municipal elections, the pro-government side increased its flow of votes. In short, it is a reality that Salvadorans have decided to place their trust in Bukele’s side to govern, legislate and make appointments to second-class officials.
But democracy is a form of government that goes beyond popular legitimacy. That is, it is not enough to be democratically elected, it must be governed democratically.
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And this is where the words of Bukele, his counting exaltation to democracy, collide with the first wall of reality.
One of the most basic pillars of democratic life is that free and fair elections are held. But in the recently concluded election cycle, the Government misused its resources and influence to favor candidates who promoted New Ideas and WIN.
It was common during this election cycle to see officials proselytizing, which is prohibited by the Constitution, the Electoral Code and which has been reinforced by the Constitutional Chamber, which recalled in 2014 that it is illegal to prevail over a charge and the influence that this one carries to campaign.
REPUBLIC AND DEMOCRACY UNDER THREATS OF RIFLES
Nayib Bukele’s speech was laden with allusions to democracy and even a mention of the Republican system of government that is based on respect for the balance of power.
However, in his administration he has used the power of the security forces as a tool of pressure, which breaks the spirit of the Peace Accords and democratic institutionalization.
In this process highlights the military takeover of the Legislative Assembly on February 9, 2020. At that time, the president misused weapons and pressured deputies to vote for a loan.
Talking about republic and democracy means respecting the Constitution, but in reality, the government has moved in the opposite direction.
The president himself, on election day, called for a vote for officialdom, regardless of legality. This attitude looks like an exact copy of what former President Mauricio Funes did, who on February 2, 2014 went out to ask for the vote for who would become his successor, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, in violation of the Constitution.
The government also does not respect the ban on inaugurating and advertising public works or other programs in the period immediately preceding the election. This forecast is made to avoid an undue advantage in the face of elections.
And at the same time that the bureaucracy was taking advantage of an undue advantage with public funds, the opposition competed “with their hands tied.” This is because the government did not pay off the political debt, i.e. the funding that the parties have to receive from the state. This put the opposition at a clear disadvantage in the face of powerful state machinery.
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On the other hand, the Government chose not to pay the Fodes that by law must be granted to mayors. Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya even joked that this money might be handed over after the election.
With this, the Executive managed to financially drown most of the country’s communes, which use this money not only for works and investment, but for payment of sheets and their daily operation.
In short, the Salvadoran electorate did choose to give the majority to the consortium of New Ideas and WIN, but the conditions of the election were not fair or balanced for all sides in contention.
And democracy, which the president now preaches, was present in the procedure, but in making a more careful analysis, the abuse of funds and the privileged megaphone of the state is remarkable.
Freedom of expression
In his speech, the president alluded to the fact that “traditional power groups” were running out of influence to legislate or promote second-degree appointments.
However, he said that they will be able to continue to express their opinions in communiqués, events or interviews, and stated that in El Salvador “freedom of expression is respected”.
While the Constitution recognizes this right in its Article 6, the actions of its government have gone in the opposite direction. In less than two years in power, the president and his officials have harassed and humiliated critical journalists and citizens. This has translated into hostilities and hate speeches by government fans and even threats to those questioning government, something Bukele has never censored or condemned.
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The state’s regulatory muscle has also been used to try to intimidate media and the state’s guideline has been used to punish those who practice journalism critically.
The government has closed channels of communication with independent media, which do not have versions of officials, and increasingly cuts access to public information, which functions as the necessary counterpart to freedom of expression.
The affected is the public, which is increasingly losing access to critical voices and legitimate questions and to whom the doors are closed to know how public resources are used.
In the same vein, the president offered dialogue to his opponents. However, since he has been in power, he has made countless efforts to silence them and punish the opposition. And in his own speech, he said he will not negotiate with the FMLN and SAND, parties he despises and which have been harshly defeated, but which garnered nearly half a million votes in the recent elections. If officialdom chooses to ignore it completely, it would be turning its back on a minority but significant portion of the electorate.
And yes, democracy must respect the will of the majority, but with unreserved respect for the fundamental rights of minorities.