El Salvador’s President Naguib Bukele intends to run for another five-year term, his New Ideas party announced Monday, even though the Central American nation’s constitution prohibits consecutive terms in office.

Mr Bukele, 41, has submitted a formal application to be named a candidate in the February 2024 election, according to the party.

The right-wing president is the most popular leader in Latin America, according to the latest survey by the CID Gallup polling institute: the percentage of Salvadorans who approve of his actions reaches 90%.

He owes his popularity to the “war” on gangs he has been waging for more than a year, despite criticism of his methods by human rights groups and accusations by his political opponents of authoritarianism and violations of the rule of law.

Mr Bukele has been in power since 2019. If re-elected, he will remain in the presidency until at least 2029.

The Constitution of El Salvador stipulates that the presidential term is five years and that candidacy for the presidency is possible only if the person submitting it has not held public office for at least six months.

There has been talk of Mr Bukele resigning six months before the end of his term to circumvent the ban. In 2021, members of the supreme court – appointed by his government – ​​ruled that his second consecutive term as president would be legal, but this had caused reactions at home and abroad.