El Salvador’s President Naguib Bukele announced Tuesday that he has asked Congress to approve a leave of absence to run for re-election to Central America’s highest office in 2024, insisting he defies the fact that the fundamental law prohibits consecutive presidential terms.

The 41-year-old head of state, in power since 2019, had made it clear since last year that he would run for re-election, although El Salvador’s Constitution stipulates that a candidacy for the presidency is possible only if the person submitting it has not exercised public office for at least six months, which practically excluded him.

The ruling party nominated him in a party-line process in July as its candidate for office — unopposed.

There have long been scenarios in which Mr Bukele would tender his resignation a few months before his term ends, to circumvent the ban. In 2021, members of the constitutional division of the supreme court—appointed by his government—interpreted an article of the basic law in a way that concluded his second consecutive term as president was legal, sparking an outcry at home and abroad.

If the parliament, which is dominated by the ruling New Ideas party, is expected to approve the request, and if Mr Bukele is indeed re-elected, he will remain in power until at least 2029.

The right-wing president is among the most popular leaders in Latin America, according to polls, largely thanks to the “war on gangs” he launched in 2022, despite criticism of his methods by human rights groups and accusations of deviance by political opponents of authoritarianism and violations of the rule of law.