Abolishing elections is a regressive step, even in a closed dictatorship

Nicaragua appears to be moving backward in history, with President Daniel Ortega's announcement on July 19 to abolish elections marking a regression. This move harks back to the 19th century, before the Constitution of Cádiz, when territories overseas lacked any laws for electing colonial authorities.

It remains unclear if Ortega's statement was a spontaneous outburst or a deliberate confession of his deepest desires. Regardless, the international community has reacted with widespread repudiation, viewing the decision as a self-inflicted blow. Abolishing elections, the fundamental right to rights, on Liberation Day is likened to Nicaragua announcing its conversion into an imperialist colony on its Independence Day.

Ortega's return to power in 2007 was accompanied by promises of direct democracy and a government where "the people preside." His administration, along with his wife, promoted concepts like "Citizen Power" through bodies such as the Citizen Power Councils (CPC) and Citizen Power Cabinets (GPC). While initially seen as a step forward, these initiatives lacked a crucial foundation: citizenship, defined by duties and rights within a political community. The right to elect and be elected is the gateway to this community.

Instead, Nicaraguan citizenship under Ortega has been subordinate to political creed and loyalty to a family clan. As elections were progressively undermined by fraud, the pool of eligible voters and citizens enjoying rights, which the regime turned into privileges, shrank. This clientelism stands in contrast to the early justifications by regime ideologues who traded political rights for social ones, and dismissed electoral democracy as "bourgeois" in favor of a supposed "popular democracy" emerging from neighborhood CPC meetings. The recent announcement further solidifies this trajectory.