Ortega’s Nicaragua rewrites its Constitution and buries electoral competition

Nicaragua’s ruling lawmakers have taken the first step toward a constitutional overhaul that could exclude broad sections of the opposition from future elections and extend presidential terms to seven years.

The National Assembly, controlled by the Sandinista government, approved the partial constitutional reform unanimously by a show of hands during a special session. The measure still requires a second vote and is scheduled for ratification on Jan. 18, 2027. It would then take effect and further strengthen the position of co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.

The amendment explicitly bars anyone authorities classify as a “traitor to the homeland” from taking part in electoral processes. Officials have applied that label to at least 452 opponents and critics who were stripped of their nationality, including writers Sergio Ramírez and Gioconda Belli. The ban would also apply to people involved in an attempted or completed coup, or those who seek foreign sanctions or financing.

In practice, the provisions could allow authorities to indefinitely prevent opposition groups and government critics from seeking elected office. The reform would also extend the terms of officials chosen by popular vote, as well as officials elected or confirmed by the National Assembly, including the army and police chiefs, from six to seven years.

Nicaragua had been due to hold general elections in November 2026, but constitutional changes approved in 2025 extended the presidential term from five to six years, moving the expected vote to November 2027. The new reform would shift it again, to November 2028. It also introduces a sovereignty principle rejecting the legal effect of foreign laws, international organizations or groups of states when they are deemed to threaten Nicaragua’s independence, sovereignty, self-determination, security or peace.