Pro-Bitcoiner Nayib Bukele is widely expected to run for a second term as El Salvador’s president after new exit poll data indicates his party has won 87% of the votes.
Bukele, who leads the “Nueva (New) Ideas” party, reposted an X post from CID Gallup on Feb. 5, showing him his party holding 87% of votes, while his closest competitors Manuel Flores and Joel Sanchez hold 7% and 4% of the votes, respectively. Should the official results show a similar lead, he would serve as president until 2029.
Nayib Biukele es reelegido como presidente en El Salvador (CID Gallup - Boca de Urna) #EleccionesElSalvador2024 #cidgallup #bocadeurna pic.twitter.com/27LNpVknqj
— CID Gallup (@cidgallup) February 5, 2024
In an X post, Bukele said his own party’s data shows he has won the election with more than 85% of the votes and a minimum of 58 out of 60 deputies in the assembly.
A spokesman for the country’s National Bitcoin Office told Cointelegraph they expect an even higher proportion of votes going to Bukele once the official results are out.
Nayib Bukele made Bitcoin legal tender in the country in September 2021, among other initiatives supporting the cryptocurrency.
Last week, Vice President Félix Ulloa reportedly confirmed Bukele’s Bitcoin strategy wouldn’t change if he were elected, according to a Reuters report on Feb. 1.
The Salvadoran president has also been known for his crackdown on gang crime. However, Amnesty International last year criticized the country under Bukele’s leadership for an “alarming regression” in the protection of human rights, which risks replacing gang violence with "state violence.”
Related: El Salvador’s Bitcoin portfolio swings to profit
Bukele’s campaign for second term has also been met with controversy.
Several critics, such as Salvadoran lawyer Alfonso Fajardo, have argued the country’s constitution prohibits Bukele from seeking a second consecutive term.
“Today is a good day to remember that immediate presidential re-election is prohibited up to 7 times by the Constitution,” Fajardo said when news broke that Bukele filed paperwork to run again in October.
El Salvador has been touted as potentially becoming the “Singapore of the Americas” by Vaneck strategy adviser Gabor Gurbacs, who expects more investment capital and immigration to flow into the country in the coming years.
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