Elections 2021 in El Salvador: Nuevas Ideas, and the
phenomenon of Nayib Bukele
Luis Eduardo Aguilar/ Political Scientist
Nuevas Ideas (NI) won the past legislative, municipal,
and Central American Parliament elections in El Salvador on February 28th,
2020. The candidate's policy proposal and agenda were irrelevant themself, as
long as they demonstrated unwavering loyalty to President Bukele. In the
political campaign, the most noticeable slogans were: "Vote for the N of Nayib "and" Nuevas Ideas, our president's party. NI campaigned actively presented the political
party as an alternative option to traditional Salvadoran political parties, the
rightist ARENA, and the leftist FMLN. NI promoted a new party that, according
to its statutes, has no "Outdated ideologies." Thus, the past
elections' unprecedented political results changed the political power
configuration among the Salvadoran Party System. The traditional political
forces, FMLN and ARENA, became a weak and fragmented political opposition while
NI reached political dominancy. Amidst this new scenario, some questions arise:
Why did Nuevas Ideas obtain such overwhelming victory? What are the direct
effects of this victory in the political system? What problems could bring this
situation?
Before answering those
questions, it is necessary to acknowledge some aspects that allow Nuevas Ideas
to win this election. The first one is related to the Salvadoran Crisis of Representation. Public Opinion perceives the Legislative Assembly
and the traditional parties as weak public institutions unable to tackle
unemployment, degradation of social services, corruption, insecurity, and other
social issues. Moreover, ARENA and FMLN leaders rejected internal criticism
dismissing their sympathizer demands of ideological coherence. Because of the
neglect, former supporters, apathetic and a suffering mass, found themselves
less and less identified with those traditional parties.
Secondly is the
association of Nuevas Ideas with president Bukele himself. He changed the
moderate discourse of the "traditional politicians" for a disruptive
one, satisfying the masses' desire for retaliation against traditional
political leaders; thus, his narrative focuses on attacking political
opponents. Moreover, his publicity strategies of eye-catching headlines
announcing food bag distribution and economic incentive as COVID relief policy,
the adaptation of the Center for Fairs and Conventions (CIFCO) in a Hospital
for COVID-19, and the social programs -as the distribution of computers for
students- during electoral campaign time. Social media became his central
platform of communication, attracting exceptionally high numbers of young
people. For example, he has used Twitter to fired several officials. So, the
Salvadorans who felt abandoned by traditional politicians or "the same old
ones," as his campaign claimed, founded a new defender, Nayib Bukele.
Given this scenario,
what are the direct effects of Nuevas Ideas's victory in the political system?
In El Salvador, the National Assembly is made up of 84 seats; 43 constitute a
simple majority and 56 a qualified majority. Taxes and fee decrees on goods and
services are created with the parliamentary votes called Simple Majority. And, the election of Magistrates of the Court of
Accounts, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and the Supreme Justice Court need
with the Qualified Majority of parliamentary votes; also a Qualified
Majority of parliamentary votes elect the General Attorney of the Republic and
the Human Rights Ombudsman, concessions for the exploitation of natural
resources and approval of the Nation's general budget. According to the
election's preliminary results, NI obtained a Qualified Majority in the
parliament, granting the president's party the accumulation of unprecedented
political power and a wide range of political decisions for the Central
American country.
In such a scenario,
What are the potentials problems of NI overwhelming political power? First,
nepotism, meaning the practice among those with power or influence of favoring
relatives or friends. Indeed, Bukele denounced the corruption and nepotism of
the previous governments. However, he still placed his relatives and people
from his close circle in crucial government positions without evaluating their
professional suitability. Also, some officials took advantage of their spot to
run as candidates in this election. Many were unknown, but they won a seat
because of their proximity to Bukele. Other "old traditional
politicians" now have become popular again because of their loyalty to the
president, for example, Walter Araujo, a former congressman. He signed the
Pension System law and the dollarization law in the 2000s. Also, Will Salgado,
a former Major at San Miguel, openly reproducing despotic political practice.
Both of them, long-lasting politicians that have been able to renovate their
political credentials and popularity by showing subordination to Bukele.
Second, the lack of
transparency and accountability in the COVID-19 relief policies such as food
bag distribution, economic incentive, adaptation of the Center for Fairs and
Conventions (CIFCO) in a Hospital for COVID-19, and the computer distribution
for students. The transparency in their funds' management is not compelling.
Their final cost is unclear and unknown in the long run; plus, their funding
comes from unsustainable sources, such as international loans. During the
campaign, Bukele said it was necessary to get rid of the old politics and that
he had to concentrate power to apply justice. But his party have multiple
allegations of corruption during the quarantine, with no official formal
prosecution.
Third, the
concentration of power leads to an authoritarian trap. The Government makes
repeated references to "changing the system," using radical and even
aggressive rhetoric. It also provides a central role to the armed forces and
the National Civil Police, even violating constitutional rights where legality
is an obstacle that is necessary avoid. However, many citizens do not see those
authoritarian and militaristic policies as a dangerous threat. However, the
concentration of power could easily misuse those institutions to capture
State's total capture. The historical political structure in El Salvador
demonstrates that power concentration and military intervention in public
affairs, and moral warnings can destroy social consensus. In such a scenario,
the most affected would be the great majority.
In conclusion, Nuevas
Ideas obtained such an overwhelming victory due to the crisis of representation
of the traditional parties (Arena and FMLN) and the disruptive discourse and
actions of Bukele. Those have attracted a large number of voters who no longer
supported traditional parties. On the other hand, the effect of this victory of
NI is the composition of a dominant party; this will allow the president to
nominate trusted officials in the institutions of control of the political
system, where the Legislative Assembly would only confirm those nominations.
However, some of the dangers of the new political scenario are the possibility
of appointing officials without having the required qualities and the lack of
transparency and accountability that may exist when these officials carry out
their positions. Situations like this could bring the repetition of recipes and
routines that are economically unsustainable. That's the real problem.
