The President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele, who was swept into office in 2019 and is now serving a second consecutive term, said Monday he was open to the possibility of remaining in power for another decade.

“If it were up to me, I would stay (in the presidency) for another 10 years,” Bukele said during an interview with popular Spanish YouTuber “TheGrefg” posted yesterday. The head of state also said he and his wife had originally agreed to leave politics in 2029.

The next presidential election in El Salvador is now scheduled to be held in 2027; the winner is to rule the country until 2033.

Bukele will be able to seek a third consecutive term in the country’s top office as the parliament, fully controlled by his party, pushed through a revision of articles of the constitution in July removing any limit on presidential terms, increasing the length of each from five to six years and bringing forward the timeline for the next vote.

Legal experts both in El Salvador and internationally, however, question the legality of Bukele’s moves to extend his stay in power. The fundamental law explicitly stated in its first six articles that consecutive terms in the presidency are prohibited. In early 2024, however, Bouquele secured his second term with a large majority.

The 44-year-old former owner of a public relations and advertising company and former mayor of the capital San Salvador (2015-2018) remains very popular in the country because of the “war” he declared on gangs that resulted in a drastic reduction in the homicide rate and crime, making the country the safest in Latin America.

Bukele has assured, however, that he has no intention of moving forward with a dictatorship in El Salvador and that voters will choose whether he or someone else will be the one in power in the next election.