El Salvador’s political life has been disrupted by a decision by Congress to oust Supreme Court justices who were considered hostile to President Nayib Bukele. The parliamentary opposition called this decision an institutional coup.
Given that the incumbent President’s “New Ideas” party holds an absolute majority in the National Assembly, he made this decision after its first formal sitting since the February 2021 elections.
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The reason for the dismissal of all members of the Constitutional Committee of the Supreme Court was that they had arbitrarily blocked the implementation of the policy of the head of state to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, endangering public health.
In addition, Parliament’s decision included the expulsion of the Attorney General of El Salvador, who is considered a friend of the Opposition parties.
The traditional political order, which includes the judiciary, has been discredited by a series of corruption scandals. The ousted judges claim that Parliament’s decision is unconstitutional and refuse to step down.
Opposition parties have stated they will not run in the by-elections. At the same time, they accused the President of El Salvador of trying to abolish the rule of law and of concentrating all power in his hands, excluding the separation of powers and the observance of democratic rules.
