President Nayib Bukele will take office on June 1 for his second consecutive term, which he achieved following winning the presidential elections last February and being re-elected despite the constitutional ban, with the economy as the main challenge.
Bukele, 42 years old and who became President in 2019 with the flag of the right-wing Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), enjoys widespread popularity in part due to the “war once morest gangs” that he leads and with which , for the moment, has “controlled” the issue of security in the country.
Nevertheless, The biggest challenge now for Bukele in his second term is to improve the economy of the country and Salvadoran householdsone of the current demands of the majority of the population who support him in his war once morest the gangs.
According to an opinion poll by the University Institute of Public Opinion (Iudip) of the Central American University (UCA), at the end of 2023 the Salvadoran population showed “significant concern” regarding the economic situation.
Concern regarding crime has been relegated, the results indicate, since only 4% of the Salvadoran population considered that this continues to be the country’s main problem.
Meanwhile, almost 70 out of every 100 Salvadorans thought that problems such as the economy (32.8%), unemployment (17.3%), the high cost of living (10.5%), poverty (6.6%) and the high cost of food (2.7%) constituted the country’s main problem, according to the data.
The president bet on bitcoin to improve the economy, however 88% of the population did not use this crypto asset in 2023, according to the latest surveys that have evaluated the issue.
Nor has the construction of a bitcoin city been made effective, nor have remittances sent by cryptocurrency wallets reported an increase, in fact they had a drop of 17.6% in the first two months of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023.
Proposing an increase in the minimum wage is another demand, since it is currently US$365 for the industry, commerce and services sector, while the basic food basket exceeds US$400 per month.
Reducing poverty and inequality, improving public education and redirecting efforts to improve the quality of life of women and children should also be topics on the president’s agenda for his next five-year term, according to various civil society organizations and feminists.
In 2023, Salvadoran households in urban areas became poorer than those in rural areas, according to data from the Multiple Purpose Household Survey (EHPM), prepared by the state National Office of Statistics and Censuses (ONEC).
27.2% of households throughout the country lived in poverty last year, 0.57 percentage points more than the 26.63% registered in 2022. In the urban area the rate increased 1.62 points compared to 2022, going from 24.88% to 26.5%.
During his political campaign, the president did not make reference to future economic and social projects, because the population remains with expectations of what may happen.
Bukele will continue to have legislative support, since Congress is dominated by his party, the ruling New Ideas (NI), which as of May 1 has 54 deputies out of 60 in total.
The president assured on the social network
“I’m only cleared to run for a second term,” he said.
However, a reform to an article of the Constitution approved on Monday by the Legislative body opens the doors to changes in the Magna Carta for, according to various analysts consulted by EFE“favor” Bukele and “perpetuate” in power together with his party.
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