Nayib Bukele, the current president of El Salvador, has declared victory in the country’s presidential election.
This gives the president, who was the first in the world to introduce Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender, a second term in office.
He appears to be the first president to be re-elected in El Salvador in nearly 100 years.
Bukele receives 85% of the vote
Bukele got up Social media has already been explained announced to the winner of the election before the official results are announced. He claims to have received more than 85% of the vote.
According to the latest election polls, he received up to 83% of the vote, but only 31% of the votes were counted.
Still, there seems to be a very good chance that he actually won. In doing so, he not only appears to be strengthening his position as president, but could also achieve a historic majority in parliament.
He claims his New Ideas party now controls at least 58 of 60 seats in parliament. This will give him unprecedented power in the country.
The controversial Bitcoin legislation
In 2021, Bukele introduced Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador. This caused a lot of excitement and criticism. Major international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed their dissatisfaction.
The introduction led to protests in the country. Not everyone has been waiting for Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency is currently hardly used in the country as a means of payment for everyday expenses.
Many of the biggest Bitcoin plans, such as Bitcoin City and Volcano Bonds, are still not off the ground.
It also didn’t help that Bitcoin’s price entered a bear market just months after its launch, sending El Salvador’s investment into the red.
Not Bitcoin, but gang violence
Nevertheless, it may not have been the introduction of Bitcoin that led to his re-election. Bukele has taken tough action against the gang problem in the country in recent years. This also happened with a controversial policy.
His controversial actions lead to mass incarceration and have been widely criticized. 75,000 Salvadorans are said to have been arrested without charge. Critics say mass incarceration of 1% of the population is unsustainable in the long term.
Still, Bukele’s approach has endeared him to much of the population as the country suffered from extremely high rates of gang violence and murder.