MANAGUA: Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has announced that Nicaragua will no longer hold elections, declaring that opposition parties will never again be allowed to gain power through the ballot box.
Speaking at a public event, the 80-year-old president said the era in which opposition groups could seek to form a government through elections had come to an end.
“We will no longer have elections through which opposition parties can try to take power,” Ortega said, adding that groups he described as being backed by the United States and supporters of the former Somoza regime would not be allowed to return to government.
Ortega, who has been in power continuously since 2007 and previously served as president during the 1980s, did not explain how his announcement would be implemented under Nicaragua’s constitution or legal system.
The declaration has further raised concerns about the future of democratic governance in the Central American nation.
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Nicaragua’s 2021 presidential election was widely criticized internationally after several opposition leaders, presidential hopefuls and business figures were arrested ahead of the vote, while authorities intensified measures against political dissent.
Last year, constitutional amendments extended the presidential term from five to six years and formally elevated Rosario Murillo, Ortega’s wife, to the position of co-president, further consolidating the family’s grip on power.
Political observers say the executive branch, judiciary, armed forces and other key state institutions are now largely under the control of Ortega and Murillo.
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The United Nations Human Rights Council has previously accused Nicaragua’s government of transforming the country into an authoritarian state through systematic human rights violations.
Human rights organizations have also pointed to the 2018 crackdown on anti-government demonstrations, during which more than 300 people were killed, according to international reports.
Exiled opposition leaders condemned Ortega’s latest remarks, arguing that the statement reflects fear of genuine political competition rather than confidence in public support.
Former presidential candidate Félix Maradiaga, who was imprisoned between 2021 and 2023 before being exiled to the United States, said Ortega had effectively admitted that he was unwilling to submit his rule to a democratic contest.
The United States has already designated Ortega’s administration as authoritarian and has imposed sanctions on more than 2,350 Nicaraguan government officials and their family members.
