El Salvador had become the topic of much debate regarding its recent decision to make Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender. President Nayib Bukele had been the one to legalize the flagship crypto. However, it would seem as if not everyone is on board with his decision. While there have been many international participants who have either praised or condemned the president’s decision, it has now been revealed that one of El Salvador’s own political parties has opposed the legalization of Bitcoin.
The FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front) party had been the one to oppose President Bukele, as this opposition party is now providing backing to a public lawsuit that has challenged the local government’s decision to consider BTC as legal tender.
Making Bitcoin legal is ‘unconstitutional,’ according to FMLN
The aforementioned FMLN party had stated that the recent law legalizing BTC is ‘unconstitutional’ in nature. As per the statement given by Jaime Guevara, the opposition party’s deputy, the law does not possess any kind of ‘legal basis.’ He went on to state that this is effectively going to result in ‘people’s pockets being looted’ as it is exempt from taxation and that the government is essentially forcing its citizens to trade.
A leading plaintiff for the case made against legalizing Bitcoin, Óscar Artero, claims that there was no real planning or consideration of long-term consequences regarding the passing of the recent Bitcoin-oriented law. Moreover, there have been rumors running rampant in the country which allegedly claim that many citizens are against the decision to legalize Bitcoin, and there is even chatter indicating that the nation’s government might covertly desire to ban the new law altogether. Allegedly, President Bukele might not have been prepared for the after-effects of making BTC legal and may therefore be secretly looking for a way to reverse the decision.
Guevara, for his part, has denied all accusations of conspiring with the government as far as these rumors are concerned.
Mixed opinions about the new law
It goes without saying that not everyone was going to be on board with the country’s recent decision to make Bitcoin legal, with international institutions such as the IMF being among the list of organizations that have since made it known that this may have been a foolhardy move on the part of El Salvador’s leader.
Still, there is plenty of support for the new law as well. Strike (a payment firm) is the one in charge of the BTC adoption and remains optimistic about it. Its CEO, Jack Mallers, had also recently confirmed that various banks along with a couple of top cashpoint distributors present in the country are supporting President Bukele’s decision. Additionally, USDT payments might be phased out in favor of BTC as well.
The manner through which El Salvador handles the current situation is of the utmost importance as it will set an example for other nations such as Paraguay to follow.