This Sunday the new National Assembly was established as a result of the assignments made by the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE), after the votes without political competition and under the shadow of the citizen repression of November 7. The Sandinista Front prescribed 75 deputies, five more than the last legislature, who assumed their seats on January 9,. The collaborationist political parties were left with only 15 seats, distributed among five parties, political allies of everything that Ortega proposes in parliament.
The act of installation of the deputies was chaired by Brenda Rocha, president of the CSE, who took advantage of the beginning of the session to “celebrate” what she called a massive participation of Nicaraguans in the elections of November 7. However, a CID Gallup survey sponsored by CONFIDENTIAL, released in December, revealed that only 27% of the votes went to Ortega Y not the 75.8% assigned by electoral magistrates loyal to Daniel Ortega.
“We come from the general elections of November 2021, one of the most outstanding electoral processes in recent electoral history due to its results in citizen participation with 65.6% at the national level registering, in such a way, 2.21 million votes cast” , said Rocha, something rejected by independent electoral observation bodies that they place abstention from these votes at 81.5%.
For this new legislative period, the parliament had little change in terms of electoral forces. Ortega will continue to have absolute control to pass laws or reform the Political Constitution if it so wishes. It also has the political backing of the 15 deputies of the collaborationist parties, including the Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC), whose president, María Haydeé Osuna, was re-elected as third vice president at the proposal of the Ortega member José Figueroa.
The mission for this period, according to the also reelected president of the Board of Directors, Gustavo Porras, will be to continue fighting for “sovereignty” and a “definitive independence”, words that the Ortega regime has used to persecute anyone they identify as an opponent or not aligned with the political ideology of the Sandinista Front.
“We want to thank the trust placed in, (…), the Sandinista Front, Commander Daniel, Comrade Rosario, all the brothers of the represented parties. The confidence to continue working in favor of peace, in favor of independence, the definitive independence of our country, independence in all senses. That will be our job, that has been our commitment and that is why we are here, “said Porras, after being sworn in as president of the Assembly’s Board of Directors.
With that same speech, Porras closed the 2021 legislative period. Now he added the term “economic sovereignty” to his speech, exactly one month after Nicaragua broke relations. diplomatic with Taiwan and confiscate its embassy to hand it over to China, with whom they renewed a relationship that they had maintained in 1985 and that ended in the 1990s after the departure of Daniel Ortega.
They re-elect the same Board of Directors
The distribution of the new Ortega Assembly leaves 75 deputies for the FSLN. It also includes nine legislators from the PLC. The Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) and the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) will have two representatives in parliament respectively. On the other hand, the Alliance for the Republic (APRE), and the coastal Yatama regional party, will have only one deputy.
However, despite the fact that, in theory, there are six political representations in that Assembly, they all vote in line with the FSLN, which is demonstrated in the way in which the new Board of Directors was distributed, where little change was seen.
The presidency will continue to be in charge of the FSLN with the deputy Gustavo Porras. The first vice-presidency was the only one that underwent changes. Arling Alonso went on to replace Maritza Espinales, while Gladys Báez retained the second vice presidency, all with 91 votes in favor.
María Haydeé Osuna, was awarded again by Ortega, leaving her the third vice-presidency of the Assembly, supported by 90 deputies and only 1 who remained present. Osuna and the PLC that he presides were the cause that the CSE controlled by Ortega, will cancel the legal status of the party Citizens for Freedom (CxL), clearing the way for Ortega to be reelected for a fourth consecutive term.
Osuna and his party denounced CxL before the Supreme Electoral Council for allegedly requesting “sanctions” against Nicaragua, something that Ortega “prohibited” in the controversial law approved at the end of 2020 called Sovereignty Law.
Gloria Dixon also obtained 91 favorable votes, while Wilfredo Navarro was the only one who received an abstention, being elected with 90 votes for the second secretary. The third secretary will be kept by Alejandro Mejía Ferreti.
This distribution of the Board of Directors is not new. It is the same formula that Ortega has used since 2017 and has been renewed since then.
The new deputies were summoned by Porras to meet this next January 10 and give the banderillazo for the “inauguration” of Daniel Ortega and his new presidential term that will last until 2027, the fourth consecutive, despite the indications of illegitimacy from the international community.
The new period of Ortega will maintain the same previous characteristics: an iron control over the powers of the State that he controls since he came to power in 2007, a police state that allows him to imprison opponents, journalists, businessmen and anyone who dares to challenge his power, as he has done since the end of May 2021, when began to capture all the competition that would have for the elections of November of that year.
