The political parties that participated in the “municipal electoral farce” on November 6, 457.71 million córdobas will be distributed General Budget of the Republic 2023, of which 119.44 million corresponds to the historical collaborating political parties of the regime, despite not having won any of the 153 mayors in the country.
The biggest slice of the funds for electoral reimbursement goes to the eThe Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), which won 1,494,688 valid votes, equivalent to 73.7%, according to the Supreme Electoral Council, controlled by Ortega operators. This percentage of assigned votes means that 337.3 million córdobas will be pocketed from the public treasury.
The CSE assigned the stilt parties only 26.3% of the valid votes, and he was not awarded a single mayoralty in the country.
The reform to Law 331, Electoral Law, approved on May 4, 2021, allows political organizations to benefit from electoral reimbursement based on the number of valid votes obtained and not on the basis of the 4% of valid votes previously established by law. Said reimbursement is equivalent to 0.5% of the General Budget of the Republic, since it is a municipal vote.
The official data of Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) –which lack credibility and cannot be audited– indicate that of the 3,722,884 Nicaraguans summoned to the polls, 2,108,003 supposedly voted.
To the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) was assigned 256,429 votes, equivalent to 12.6%, so this organization will collect 57.6 million cordobas from the General Budget of the Republic, which has not yet been approved by the National Assembly.
To Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) 93,203 votes were assigned to it, corresponding to 4.60%, so this party will pocket 21.05 million córdobas from the public treasury.
Similarly, the Alliance for the Republic (APRE) received 79,993 valid votes, equivalent to 3.94%, for which it is entitled to receive 17.8 million cordobas.
To the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) the CSE assigned him 84,345 votes, corresponding to 4.16%, for which he will receive 18.7 million cordobas.
the regional party Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Asla Takanka (Yatama)which only participates in the Caribbean Coast, was assigned 19,377 votes, equivalent to 0.96%, for which they will receive 4.3 million cordobas.
The 2023 budget project also establishes that the CSE will be in charge of coordinating with the Comptroller General of the Republic and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, to “ensure reimbursement is made of expenses to the alliances of parties or political parties, in which they have incurred during the campaign of the Municipal Sovereign Elections 2022”.
In previous elections, the electoral reimbursement has been delivered in the first quarter of the year following the vote. As happened last March, when the CSE handed over to the collaborationist political parties 806.7 million córdobas for having participated in “the electoral farce of 2021”, in which Ortega and Murillo were re-elected no political competition.
Reimbursement for non-existent electoral campaign
Prior to the “electoral farce” last Sundaythe Urnas Abiertas observatory pointed out that the establishment of a campaign period of 20 days in the electoral calendarin a context where there is no electoral competition, “it only serves to justify the millionaire reimbursement of more than 450 million córdobas that the parties will claim at the end of their participation in a process without conditions or democratic guarantees.
Throughout the campaign period “there were a noticeable silencethe atmosphere in the municipalities did not point to the approach of a civic festival as elections should be, the streets lack political advertising notorious, except for a few posters, the rallies or caravans in the streets were non-existent and the few political acts registered during the last two weekends were not massive, the participation was limited to activities that did not exceed a few dozen people”, pointed out Urnas Abiertas.
With a municipal electoral campaign period of 20 days, between October 12 and November 1, and a secure election refundthe stilt parties didn’t even bother to promote their candidates on social networks.
Local Network denounces “new electoral fraud”
For the Nicaraguan Network for Democracy and Local Development (Local Network), the “new electoral farce,” in which the The FSLN was awarded all of the 153 mayoralties in the country“does nothing more than reaffirm the violations of municipal autonomy, to the freedom of decision of citizens and the exercise of local democracy”.
Through a press release, the Nicaraguan municipal organization denounced at the local, national and international level “this new electoral fraud” and made a call to continue to demand respect for freedom and the full exercise of human rightss of each and every Nicaraguan.”
The organization recalled that dSince the FSLN returned to power in 2007municipal autonomy was progressively “dismantled” until the mayor’s offices were completely subordinated to the central government.
This dismantling of municipal autonomy, warns the Local Network, has manifested itself in the alteration in the delivery of transfers prosecutors to the municipalities, the removal of municipal authorities elected by universal suffrage and the denial of citizen participation in decisions about the development of their municipalities.
In addition, the partisan control about the local authorities, the permissiveness of corruption and patronage widespread, the influence peddling in the appointment of administrative positions and the arbitrary closure of a large number of organizationss who worked at the local level, have finished liquidating municipal autonomy.
