June 29 (UPI) — El Salvador President Nayib Bukele formally registered Sunday as the ruling New Ideas party’s presidential pre-candidate, launching his bid for a third consecutive term in the country’s February 2027 general election.

The registration was confirmed by New Ideas party President Xavi Zablah Bukele, who announced on X that the party’s National Electoral Commission had formally received Bukele’s application. Bukele will once again run alongside Vice President Félix Ulloa.

According to local newspapers El Mundo and La Prensa Gráfica, documents released by Zablah show that both Bukele and Ulloa submitted signed registration requests as part of the party’s internal process to select candidates for the 2027 election.

The filing follows a constitutional reform approved by El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly in July 2025 that allows Bukele to seek another presidential term in 2027.

Among the changes introduced by the amendment are the authorization of indefinite presidential reelection and an extension of the presidential term from five years to six.

Bukele and Ulloa have served as the New Ideas presidential ticket since the 2019 election. They were reelected in 2024 after El Salvador’s Constitutional Chamber ruled that Bukele was eligible to seek another term.

Bukele continues to post high approval ratings in public opinion polls and is widely viewed as the leading contender to secure another presidential term under the New Ideas banner.

The constitutional changes that made Bukele’s new candidacy possible have strengthened a political model that has drawn strong support from his backers because of his security policies. At the same time, international organizations and opposition groups have raised concerns that the reforms could weaken institutional checks and balances and democratic alternation in power.

In late 2025, Bukele said in an interview with Spanish YouTuber TheGrefg that he would like to govern the country for “10 more years,” a goal that became legally possible following the constitutional reforms and his latest presidential bid.