Daniel Ortega, the longstanding president of Nicaragua, announced that the Central American nation will cease to conduct elections, thereby eliminating any potential for electoral opposition when his term concludes next year, and further solidifying the power he holds alongside his spouse, Rosario Murillo.
Ortega, who has been in power since 2007 following an earlier term in the 1980s, stated that this decision will effectively eliminate any avenues for opposition, although he did not disclose how the ban would be implemented.
“There will not be any further elections for them to attempt to take the government and seize power,” Ortega declared during a speech on Sunday evening commemorating the 1979 Sandinista revolution, which he played a pivotal role in that resulted in the overthrow of the US-supported Anastasio Somoza dictatorship.
“The era of parties backed by the Americans (United States) and the Somocistas returning to power is finished – never again,” he added during his first public address in two months.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded on Tuesday, stating that Ortega’s decision to forgo elections “exposes their genuine authoritarian character” and emphasized that the people of Nicaragua “deserve the right to elect their own leaders through fair elections.” The Trump administration has characterized Ortega’s regime as dictatorial and has imposed sanctions on over 2,350 officials from Nicaragua and their families.
“The United States urges the global community to unite in showing the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship that it cannot expect to engage in normal relations with other nations while undermining the core principles of democracy in our hemisphere,” Rubio added in his statement.
The most recent election in Nicaragua occurred in 2021, which was heavily contested following Ortega’s arrest of political opponents and business leaders, alongside the criminalization of dissent.
Last year, Ortega further reinforced his authority through a series of constitutional amendments, which included designating his wife Murillo as “co-president” and lengthening the presidential term to six years. Together, they govern nearly every facet of the state, encompassing the military and the judiciary.
The UN Human Rights Council has accused the Ortega-Murillo administration of turning the nation “into an authoritarian regime” and systematically breaching human rights. In 2018, Ortega reacted to widespread anti-government demonstrations with a crackdown that resulted in over 300 fatalities.
Analysts and exiled opposition leaders stated that Ortega’s announcement highlights the reality of the couple’s two-person rule, revealing their apprehension about a burgeoning opposition movement.
“Ortega and Murillo are clearly fearful that even a minor political opening could allow dissent to emerge and jeopardize their hold on power,” stated Tiziano Breda, a senior analyst at Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, a nonprofit organization tracking political violence. “Rather than conducting a rigged election, they have chosen to entirely eliminate electoral competition.”
The nation has become a “complete, family-run dictatorship,” he noted.
Felix Maradiaga, an opposition presidential candidate who was imprisoned in Nicaragua from 2021 until 2023 before being exiled to the United States, perceived Ortega’s remarks as less about strength and more indicative of “a confession of fear.”
“Ortega has openly admitted what has always been his real intention: to block his tyrannical agenda from facing any form of democratic competition,” Maradiaga told Reuters.
According to Salvador Marenco, coordinator of the Costa Rica-based Nicaragua Nunca Más Human Rights Collective, Ortega had already effectively eliminated competition during previous elections in 2011, 2016, and 2021.
Furthermore, the constitutional reforms enacted last year had already established a one-party system in Nicaragua, where opposition leaders have either been exiled or imprisoned.
He noted that Ortega is trying to “eliminate the chance of losing an election, as he is aware that the populace has turned against him.”
