Ortega announced that Nicaragua would not hold elections
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega stated that the country will no longer hold elections. According to him, this is intended to prevent the opposition from coming to power.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has stated that the country will no longer hold elections in order to prevent the opposition from coming to power. He made these remarks during events marking the 47th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, according to The Guardian.
The 80-year-old head of state, who has been in power since 2007, also announced his intention to pass new laws that, in his words, will “build a wall” against the political opposition.
Ortega stated that the country will no longer hold elections “so that they can try to seize the government and take power.” According to him, the government will work with parliament to pass legislation that will serve as a “barrier against coup plotters and traitors.”
As The Guardian notes, the next elections in Nicaragua were scheduled to take place next year. At the same time, Ortega did not specify whether this meant their complete cancellation or simply preventing the opposition from participating in the electoral process going forward.
Tiziano Breda, a senior analyst on Latin American affairs at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) organization, stated that this announcement marks the country’s final transition to a family dictatorship.
“Instead of staging rigged elections, they decided to completely eliminate electoral competition,” he said.
The publication notes that during the 2021 presidential campaign, the authorities banned opposition parties and imprisoned all major presidential candidates. Last year, Nicaragua also adopted constitutional amendments that extended the presidential term from five to six years and granted Ortega’s wife, Rosario Murillo, the status of “co-president.”
According to The Guardian, international human rights organizations report that there are still about 50 political prisoners in Nicaragua. In addition, the authorities have stripped 546 people of their citizenship and shut down more than 5,600 nongovernmental organizations, 29 universities, and 58 media outlets.
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