El Salvador election: Nayib Bukele revels in landslide win - BBC News

Preliminary results suggest the incumbent has won more than 80% of the vote.

22 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, EPAImage caption, Nayib Bukele waves to a jubilant crowdBy Will GrantBBC News, San Salvador, El SalvadorStanding on the balcony of the National Palace in the capital, Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, was understandably jubilant.

"This is the victory with the biggest difference between first and second place in history," he claimed of Sunday's presidential election which has seen him re-elected to a second term in office by an overwhelming lead.

"The opposition has been pulverised," the 42-year-old told the assembled crowd amid the deafening sound of cheers and horns.

While the final result is still to confirm if he has indeed taken near-total control of the legislative assembly, there is no doubt that this was a landslide and, as he sees it, a total vindication of the controversial policies of his first term.

In fact, one of the crowd's loudest cheers went up when he mentioned "the state of exception", the emergency measures he introduced in March 2022 granting draconian powers to the police and military to fight El Salvador's gangs.

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