El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele requests leave to campaign for reelection

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has asked the country’s Congress to allow him to stop performing his responsibilities as president for six months to campaign for reelection despite a constitutional prohibition on reelection. Bukele will seek a second five-year term for the New Ideas party in the Feb. 4 elections. Vice President Félix Ulloa also requested leave to campaign again as Bukele’s running mate. Bukele was expected to present a list of two options for the Congress to select his interim replacement. If he does not present options, Congress will select the interim president. Constitutional lawyers maintain that Bukele’s reelection bid violates at least four articles of the constitution.