By Gerardo Arbaiza
SAN SALVADOR, July 26 (Reuters) – El Salvador’s opposition parties have named Maytee Iraheta, a former lawmaker, as well as doctor and union leader Rafael Aguirre to run against President Nayib Bukele in the next presidential election, scheduled for February.
Iraheta announced her candidacy for the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party in a statement to reporters on Sunday, while the left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) announced Aguirre’s candidacy in a written statement.
The nominations followed internal party elections. For the first time in ARENA’s history its presidential candidate and their running mate are women.
Earlier this month, Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) party nominated the former publicist to run again in 2027, after legal changes cleared the way for him to seek a third term, with Vice President Felix Ulloa as his running mate.
Nuevas Ideas won a landslide victory in 2024 and in July last year the ruling party-controlled legislature approved an amendment to the constitution to scrap run-offs while allowing for longer terms and indefinite reelection.
ARENA, which governed the country from 1989 to 2009, has two lawmakers in congress. The FMLN, which held power from 2009 to 2019, has had no parliamentary representation since 2024. The next president is set to hold power through to 2033.
Bukele, 45, maintains high approval ratings in El Salvador, helped by a state of emergency crackdown on crime, which has involved mass trials and the construction of a “mega-prison” where Venezuelans deported from the U.S. were also held for four months last year.
His policies have drawn criticism from human rights groups over allegations of arbitrary detentions, torture, deaths in custody and violations of due process. Bukele has denied wrongdoing and said his methods are key to stopping crime.
(Reporting by Gerardo Arbaiza; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Kate Mayberry)
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