Nicaragua’s president says no more elections in his country

Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega has declared that the country will not hold any new elections, in a move seen as a desperate bid to cling to power. The authoritarian leader, 80, stated that his administration is working with parliament to create a law that would "build a wall" against elections.

Ortega made the declaration on Sunday during the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista revolution. He has ruled Nicaragua since 2007, repeatedly manipulating the law to extend his stay. Last year, he extended presidential terms to six years and promoted his wife, Rosario Murillo, from vice-president to co-president through constitutional reforms.

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We will work with the National Assembly and the relevant institutions on laws, because we need laws that build a wall, a barrier, against the coup plotters and the traitors who sell out their country.

During the 2021 election, state security forces repressed dissenting voices, detaining political opponents, activists, journalists, and business leaders. Human rights groups have also reported that opposition parties were effectively quashed in the 2011 and 2016 elections. Ortega's latest declaration appears to cement his grip on power, eliminating the possibility of an electoral challenge when his current term ends next year.

"We will work with the National Assembly and the relevant institutions on laws, because we need laws that build a wall, a barrier, against the coup plotters and the traitors who sell out their country," Ortega stated. He claimed that preventing the opposition from returning to power was necessary to protect the country from coup plotters. He also criticized the U.S. for the abduction of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro.

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With all their power, they stormed the presidential palace, where Nicolás and his wife, Cilia [Flores], were. They killed the entire security detail there – most of them were Cubans – and took them away to imprison them in the US.