SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — In a significant political move, lawmakers in El Salvador utilized a newly expedited constitutional reform procedure to abolish government funding for political campaigns on Wednesday, fulfilling a commitment made by President Nayib Bukele.

The reform legislation passed with an overwhelming majority, with 58 out of the 60 members of the Congress voting in favor, bolstered mainly by Bukele’s political allies who hold a supermajority. This legislation will now advance to President Bukele for his final approval.

President Bukele expressed his views on social media platform X, stating, “Political parties can finance themselves like we financed ourselves in 2019. Difficult? Yes, it was difficult. But wasn’t it better that way?”

Historically, political parties received government funds tied to the number of votes they garnered in elections, but those that failed to meet their expected vote counts had to return any advanced funds.

Last month, a ratification of the constitutional reform process occurred, altering the previous requirement where reforms had to be both proposed and approved in one Congress and subsequently ratified in the next legislative session following elections.

Now, reforms can be enacted with merely a three-quarters majority vote among lawmakers. Bukele’s New Ideas party controls 54 seats, with its coalition partners holding an additional three in the 60-member unicameral Congress.

The success of Bukele’s party has substantially diminished the public role of opposition parties, which had historically governed El Salvador until Bukele began his presidency in 2019.

Eduardo Escobar, representing the civic organization Citizen Action, criticized the elimination of public financing, claiming it serves to further entrench a dominant party system. He stated, “The reform will impact political pluralism significantly, as the majority of parties will struggle to fund their regular functions and electoral campaigns, drastically reducing their chances of winning elections.”