[NEWS] Incumbent Bukele declares victory in El Salvador's presidential election; Bitcoin-related policies to continue

On the 5th, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele declared victory in the country's presidential election. According to him, he won 85% of the votes, and in the parliamentary election, his ruling New Idea party won 58 of the 60 seats.

President Bukele declared victory two hours after the deadline for voting, before the official results were announced, saying, "This is a record that will remain in the history of democracy in the world." Hundreds of people gathered in the central square of the capital, San Salvador, and celebrated his reelection with fireworks. The Chinese Embassy in San Salvador also posted on X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate him, saying, "This is a historic election victory."

In opinion polls conducted in El Salvador before the election, there was a strong view that President Bukele would win by an overwhelming margin. This is the first time in about 85 years that a president has been elected for two consecutive terms in El Salvador. The term of office is five years.

Gaining support through significant improvements in public safety and Bitcoin policies

According to a poll, eight in ten voters praised President Bukele for leading efforts such as cracking down on gangs and adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. His reelection highlights President Bukele's leadership and the overwhelming support of the people for his unprecedented unconventional policies.

President Bukele's greatest achievement is the improvement of public safety, which is said to be the worst in the world. El Salvador had a very high number of murders per capita, but he focused on wiping out gangs by declaring a state of emergency. As a result, more than 75,000 gang members were imprisoned.

In addition, the country attracted even more attention in 2021 when it became the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender. Although it has been heavily criticized by organizations such as the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the Bukele administration has begun promoting Bitcoin investment and is pushing ahead with plans to integrate Bitcoin into the national economy.

The Bukele administration has already provided Chivo as a state-run wallet, and is taking on various initiatives such as introducing Bitcoin ATMs and running a Bitcoin mining business using domestic volcanic thermal energy. With President Bukele's reelection, El Salvador's Bitcoin policy will not only continue, but may expand at an accelerated pace.

On the other hand, there are growing concerns that President Bukele's reelection could lead to him becoming a dictator. In fact, El Salvador had effectively banned the president from being re-elected, but a judicial decision was made to replace the Supreme Court justices with people close to him and allow him to be re-elected in 2021.

In the recent parliamentary elections, the ruling party led by President Bukele controlled the seats, so there is a possibility that he will push ahead with aggressive measures in all areas, such as amending the constitution, including extending his own term.

Reference: Bukele X
Image: Shutterstock

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