Nicaraguan president declares country will never hold elections again | World News

The long-serving president of Nicaragua has declared the country will no longer hold elections.

Daniel Ortega has been in power since 2007, ruling the Central American nation along with his wife, Rosario Murillo.

The 80-year-old carried out a previous presidential term in the 1980s, and his current one – which has been extended several times – was due to end next year.

The UN has accused the couple of turning Nicaragua into an “authoritarian state”, with virtually every aspect of the government – including the military and judiciary – under their control.

He has already extended presidential terms to six years, and the last election in 2021 saw opponents and business leaders detained and dissent criminalised. Human rights groups say opposition parties were effectively quashed in previous elections of 2011 and 2016.

The US views Ortega as a dictator and has imposed sanctions on thousands of officials.

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Ortega made the announcement to commemorate the 1979 Sandinista revolution, in which he helped overthrow ​the Washington-backed Anastasio Somoza dictatorship.

“There won’t be any more elections here for them ‌to try to seize the government and seize power,” he said.

“The days when parties backed by the Yankees (United States) and the Somocistas would return to power are over – never again.”

‘A confession of fear’

His speech on Sunday evening marked his first public appearance in two months.

Opposition leader Felix Maradiaga, who was expelled to the US after being jailed in Nicaragua from 2021 to 2023, claimed the speech was “a confession of fear”.

He told Reuters he is trying to “avoid the risk of an electoral defeat because he knows the people ‌reject him.”

In 2018, Ortega responded to widespread anti-government protests with a crackdown in which more than 300 people were killed.