Managua, Nicaragua. President Daniel Ortega said Nicaragua will no longer hold elections, removing the prospect of an electoral challenge when his current term ends next year.
Ortega’s announcement
Ortega made the statement on Sunday evening during an event commemorating the 1979 Sandinista revolution, which overthrew the Anastasio Somoza dictatorship.
“There won’t be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power,” Ortega said. He did not provide details on how the measure would be implemented.
“The days when parties backed by the Yankees and the Somocistas would return to power are over – never again,” he added.
The appearance was Ortega’s first public event in two months.
Power consolidation
Ortega has held power continuously since 2007, after previously serving as president during the 1980s. Last year, constitutional reforms named his wife, Rosario Murillo, as co-president and extended the presidential term to six years.
Ortega and Murillo control virtually every aspect of the government, including the armed forces and the judiciary.
Political crisis
Nicaragua’s 2021 election was widely disputed after Ortega’s government detained opponents and business leaders and criminalized dissent.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has accused the Ortega-Murillo government of transforming Nicaragua into an authoritarian state and systematically violating human rights.
The country has faced a severe political crisis since April 2018, when a government crackdown on anti-government protests killed more than 300 people.