El Salvador top court suspends emergency decree News
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El Salvador top court suspends emergency decree

El Salvador’s Supreme Court suspended President Nayib Bukele’s state-of-emergency decree on Monday, citing a violation of Article 2 of the Constitution.

El Salvador’s attorney general filed suit challenging the emergency decree on Sunday, calling it unconstitutional without legislative approval. The decree sought to extend the nationwide lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bukele took to Twitter after the decision, claiming that he was not acting beyond the power of the presidency. Bukele sought to justify the decree under civil protection law.

This is not the first time that one of Bukele’s orders has been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. He previously stated “five people will not decide the death of hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans.”

The Supreme Court of El Salvador said that the suspension of the degree is temporary and it must be subject to a more extensive review.

El Salvador currently has 1,498 cases of the novel coronavirus.

For more on COVID-19, see our special coverage.

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