San Salvador, Jun 1 (EFE).- The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced Thursday night that his government will carry out a “frontal war” against corruption and pointed out that a prison will be built for “the corrupt ”.
“Just as we have fought the gangs frontally, with all the forces of the State and with all the legal tools that we can without hesitating at any time, so we will also start a frontal war against corruption,” the president said during a speech at the headquarters of the Legislative Assembly on the occasion of his fourth year as head of the Executive.
“Just as we deploy State security forces and round up gang members until they are jailed, so we will also act against white-collar criminals wherever they come from,” he said.
Bukele, who came to the Presidency in 2019 with the banner of the right-wing Great Alliance for National Unity (GANA) and who took the fight against corruption as his main campaign promise, assured that “nobody has the right to be corrupt, that nobody think that it is armored ”.
The president, who announced in September 2022 that he will seek re-election in 2024, indicated that “just as we built a jail for terrorists, we will also build a jail for the corrupt.”
And he added that “we will seize everything they have and we will make them return what was stolen.”
Reduction of municipalities and deputies
President Bukele also announced a “reorganization of the administrative political division” of the country, reducing the country’s municipalities from 262 to 44 and from 84 deputies in the Legislative Branch to 60.
“We are going to reduce the number of mayors in the country from 262 to 44 (…) the current municipalities will become municipalities that in turn will integrate these 44 mayors (…) that is, we will no longer have 262 mayors, only 44 with their respective councils municipalities,” he said.
The president assured that “many mayors only dedicate themselves to stealing or see what personal benefit they get from people’s resources.”
He clarified, without giving further details, that with the reduction of municipalities “the identities of the municipalities will not disappear, they will continue to be converted into districts.”
In addition, Bukele proposed to Congress the reduction of 84 deputies to 60.
The president’s proposals have to be voted on in Congress and both, “I hope so, should be approved and underway before the 2024 general elections,” Bukele added.
El Salvador must hold the elections for the Presidency, Legislative Assembly, Mayors and Central American Parliament (Parlacen) in 2024.