Opposition deputies and human rights activists cataloged the action of the executive as “ignorant” of congress and a “state of emergency”.
The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, extended the state of emergency in the country on the grounds of stopping the spread of Covid-19.
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The state of emergency, approved on April 30 by the Legislative Assembly, expired on Saturday night, so, under the protection of an article of the Civil Protection Law, the government extended it for another month.
The decree empowers the government to use funds from executive institutions to cope with the pandemic, keep classes in schools and universities suspended, and pay for water, electricity and telephone services.
According to PDC deputy Rodolfo Parker, the measure breaks with the constitutional order: “Bukele, with his Council of Ministers, he breaks again with the constitutional order, invoking false cause.”
Likewise, a group of humanitarian organizations said that the government’s measure is “null” and called on the Prosecutor’s Office to promote an investigation against executive officials for the alleged “alteration of the constitutional order.”
In the opinion of lawyer Humberto Sáenz, from the Center for Legal Studies, the measure usurps the functions of the Assembly and considered that the Constitutional Chamber should rule on it as soon as possible.
“I hope that the Constitutional Chamber will rule quickly, in addition to the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) so that they make it clear that we are in an illegality and unconstitutionality and there are responsibilities for people who promote this,” said Sáenz.
According to a last official balance, El Salvador registered 1,265 cases of Covid-19, with 26 people dead.