Nicaragua’s general elections, in which the Sandinista Daniel Ortega, in power since 2007, is re-elected, were marked this Sunday (7) by a low participation because, for many, the result is predetermined.
The path to Ortega’s sixth term, the fourth in a row, was paved when the National Police, led by the current president’s father-in-law, arrested seven opposition pre-candidates who were emerging as his main adversaries and who could serve as a counterweight. Two other dissidents went into exile citing security concerns.
With no electoral competition, the day focused on two other issues: the level of participation and Ortega’s legitimacy. According to the head of government, what is at stake is peace against terrorism. The latter, according to him, is driven by the opposition excluded from the elections.
Ortega attacks opposition
After voting alongside his wife, the vice president Rosario Murillo, who is also seeking re-election, Ortega spoke through a message on a television and radio network. He attacked imprisoned and exiled opponents, as well as protests against his government that began in April 2018.
“We are holding these elections, and we are certain that in this battle, which is a historic battle, we have to decide between terrorism, confrontation, war or peace,” declared Ortega at the Casa de los Pueblos, seat of government in the Central American country.
The president spoke in mid-election day, which passed calmly and with low voter turnout, in contrast to the forecasts of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). The legend had predicted a massive vote.
The opposition, excluded from participating in the elections, Nicaraguans in exile and the Mães de Abril Association, which brings together the families of victims of the 2018 social outbreak, launched campaigns advising against voting with the argument that doing so would legitimize the “dictatorship of Ortega Murillo”.
Opponents used hashtags on social media to urge Nicaraguans not to leave their homes, to keep their doors locked and streets empty. They consider that “there is no one to vote for”.
Exiles repudiate “circus”
Thousands of Nicaraguans in exile in Costa Rica protested in the capital’s main streets against what they called an electoral fraud and circus orchestrated by President Ortega.
As part of a day of demonstrations, several Nicaraguan opposition groups gathered around the world, in cities such as Madrid, Miami, Panama City and Washington, to repudiate the elections and demand that the international community not recognize the electoral results in Nicaragua . In his view, the process is a farce that only seeks to re-elect Ortega.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) described the Nicaraguan elections as a farce. According to the executive director for the Americas, José Miguel Vivanco, Ortega will assume his fourth consecutive term “through the force of repression, censorship and fear”.
legitimacy at stake
“Today the whole world will witness the coronation of the dictatorship in Nicaragua. The electoral farce is underway: ‘elections’ with no candidates other than the regime; ‘elections’ with all opposition in prison and with opposition in the streets,” wrote the Costa Rican former president Luis Guillermo Solís on your Twitter account.
For Solís, the Nicaraguan electoral process “ridicules the methods and instruments of democracy, manipulating them”. “In this way, the regime surreptitiously challenges the international community, feeling protected by the few nations that share its contempt for freedom and human rights,” he added.
The opposition leader in Venezuela, Juan Guaido, considered that Ortega seeks to perpetuate himself in power with “tailor-made” elections.
The United States, Canada and the European Union warned of sanctions after the Nicaraguan elections, amid questions about their legitimacy.
The Nicaraguan Chancellor, Denis Moncada, however, declared that the Ortega government is not afraid that the international community will ignore the election results and assured that it will not be intimidated.
If he achieves his goal, Ortega, who turns 76 next Thursday, will be head of government for his sixth term. He headed a government board from 1979 to 1984, presided over the country for the first time from 1985 to 1990, and returned to power in 2007.
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