Heavily armed soldiers backed El Salvador’s president in storming the country’s parliament Sunday — in an effort to force lawmakers to sign a $109 million loan for the military to fight violent gangs.

President Nayib Bukele, 38, had called for the heavy-handed backing as he headed into an extraordinary hearing aimed at pushing through the loan.

Armed police joined soldiers with automatic weapons and body armor in standing guard for Bukele, who took a seat reserved for the president of the congress as he prayed for patience with lawmakers who failed to show.

He then gave the “good-for-nothing” lawmakers another week to return next Sunday and finally approve the loan he says would fund much-needed military equipment to fight gangs that plague the nation.

“If we wanted to press the button, we would press the button” and remove lawmakers from the legislature, he told supporters.

The funds would buy a helicopter, police cars, uniforms, night-vision goggles and other equipment, including a video surveillance system in a country plagued by gangs and high crime, Bukele’s administration says.

Opponents have questioned the huge amount and exact details of how it will be spent.

The opposition FMLN party said Bukele needed to “stop his threats which are typical of a dictatorship.”

Amnesty International also condemned the show of force, which it warned “could mark the beginning of a dangerous route” for the leadership.

“The ostentatious police and military deployment in the Legislative Assembly reminds us of the darkest times in El Salvador’s history and raises international alarm over the future of human rights in the country,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, the human rights group’s director for the Americas.

“The Salvadoran people do not deserve to relive years of tragedy and state abuses.”

Bukele took office in June with broad popular support. Voters saw the businessman as an outsider who could modernize the country and upset the status quo.

With Post wires