Nicaragua’s Parliament Moving to Abolish Elections After Ortega’s Declaration

Nicaragua’s Parliament Moving to Abolish Elections After Ortega’s Declaration

Nicaragua’s parliament will move forward to abolish elections after President Daniel Ortega’s announcement.

The lawmakers insist the move “will ensure Nicaragua’s ‘peace, security, and stability,'” according to The Washington Post.

The decision would keep Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, the co-president, in power.

Ortega made his declaration over the weekend, taking aim at America:

There won’t be any more elections here. There won’t be any more elections for them to try to seize the government, to seize power.

And we are going to work with the national assemblies and the corresponding organizations on the laws because laws need to be made.

Let them build a wall, a blockade against the coup plotters, the traitors and no matter how much money the Yankees give them, they won’t be able to.

“Parties put in place by the Yankees, put in place by the Somoza regime, coming back to power — that story is over,” Ortega added.

Ortega gave the speech during a ceremony to commemorate the 1979 Sandinista revolution, which overthrew the U.S.-supported dictator Anastasio Somoza.

Ortega first took control of Nicaragua in 1979 after the revolution and remained in power until 1990.

Violeta Chamorro defeated Ortega in 1990. He lost again in 1996 and 2001.

But Ortega won the 2006 general election and has controlled the country ever since.

Ortega’s regime has cracked down on dissent after suppressing protests in 2018.

Like true dictators, the couple has also jailed members of the opposition and religious leaders while closing civil society organizations.

The parliament has been helping Ortega and Murillo by changing the constitution over the years to give them more control:

Ortega and Murillo expanded their authority through sweeping constitutional changes that took effect in 2025. The reforms included extending the presidential term from five years to six and placing the legislative, judicial and electoral institutions under the authority of the presidency.

The pair now exercise control over nearly every branch of government, including the armed forces, police and judiciary.

Ortega, Nicaragua’s longest-serving leader, is scheduled to remain in office until early 2028, although his statement on Sunday effectively canceled Nicaragua’s next elections, which had been scheduled for November 2027.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio lashed out at Ortega:

Daniel Ortega’s declaration that under his family’s dictatorship Nicaragua will never again hold elections lays bare their true authoritarian nature. Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have abandoned even the pretense of popular consent.

The Nicaraguan people have the right to choose their own leaders through democratic elections. The United States calls on the international community to join forces to demonstrate to the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship that it cannot expect to maintain business as usual with other nations when it is thwarting the basic tenets of our democratic hemisphere.

Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, condemned the latest choices in Nicaragua.

“These latest developments further deepen the severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms, the dismantling of civic space, and the steady erosion of the rule of law,” said Türk.

Yeah, the United Nations will totally do something about it.

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