Ortega says Nicaragua will no longer hold elections

Nicaragua’s long-serving president Daniel Ortega said the Central American country will no longer hold elections, eliminating the possibility of an electoral challenge when his ​term ends next year and further entrenching the rule he shares with his wife.

Ortega, who has continuously held power since ⁠2007 following an earlier presidential term in the 1980s, said the ‌move will close off any path ​to the opposition, although he did not provide details about carrying out the measure.

“There won’t be any more elections here for them to try to seize ⁠the government and seize power,” Ortega said ‌in a speech ‌on Sunday evening to commemorate the 1979 Sandinista revolution, in which Ortega helped overturn the ⁠brutal Anastasio Somoza dictatorship.

“The days when parties backed by the Yankees and the Somocistas would return ‌to power are over - ‌never again,” he added, in his first public appearance in two months.

Nicaragua’s last election in 2021 was ⁠widely disputed after Ortega detained opponents and business ​leaders and criminalized ⁠dissent.

Last ​year, Ortega further consolidated his power through a series of constitutional reforms that included naming his wife Rosario Murillo as “co-president” and extending the presidential ⁠term to six years. He and his wife control virtually every aspect of the government, including the armed forces ⁠and the judiciary.

Ortega and Murillo’s government has been accused by the U.N. Human Rights Council of transforming the country “into an authoritarian state” and systematically ⁠violating human rights.

Nicaragua has been ‌in a severe political crisis since ​April 2018, ‌when Ortega responded to anti-government protests with a ​crackdown in which more than 300 people were killed.