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Countdown to the municipal elections in Nicaragua
This Sunday, more than 3 million Nicaraguans are authorized by the Supreme Electoral Council to participate in the municipal elections, the second most important elections in the country, after the presidential elections. For the Latin American studies researcher, Evan Ellis, the elections lack legitimacy because the opposition will not participate.
“Well, I think that democracy in Nicaragua is over a long time ago and for those who had doubts, the fraudulent elections of 2021 were just a great illustration when they made all opposition parties illegal,” Ellis explained.
Ellis believes that in practice Nicaragua has a single party model. Opinion supported by former opposition deputy Eliseo Núñez.
“We are already a hegemonic party model, and the question is, when is it going to become a single party? But that’s where it goes,” said Nuñez.
Both consider that many of the potential mayoral candidates are among the more than 200 political prisoners. However, the Supreme Electoral Council affirms that Sunday’s vote is democratic.
“We continue to ensure the best conditions in these 2022 municipal sovereign elections,” said the president of the Supreme Electoral Council, Brenda Rocha, in a recent press conference to official media.
The opposition, for its part, has called on its followers not to participate in the municipal elections, considering that they are “a farce.”
