The leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), the party in power in Nicaragua since 2007, will take possession of 100% of the mayoralties this Tuesday, with which President Daniel Ortega consolidates his absolute power over the Central American country.
The 153 elected mayors and deputy mayors, all belonging to the FSLN, will receive their credentials tomorrow Tuesday and will take office before the electoral authorities in an act that will be headed by President Ortega, according to the official announcement.
“Not only are we going to settle in to take office, to receive the credentials and to take possession of all the mayoralties of the town mayor, and as the town president we will also be together strengthened in faith, in good will and good hope to move forward listening and participating in the message of our president, Commander Daniel,” said Nicaraguan Vice President and Ortega’s wife, Rosario Murillo, last Friday.
Related news: Ortega’s CSE officially hands over the country’s 153 mayoralties to the FSLN
On November 25, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) proclaimed the FSLN winners of the municipal elections held on November 6, in which the 153 mayoralties that were in dispute were awarded without competition.
With a total of 2,028,035 valid votes, 54.9% of the 3,692,733 Nicaraguans called to vote, the FSLN, which controls all the powers of the State, as well as the Army and the National Police, became the governor in Nicaragua, going from administering 141 municipalities to the existing 153, according to official results.
SINGLE PARTY SYSTEM?
For the first time since 1990, a political party will administer all the municipalities of Nicaragua, including Managua, the country’s capital.
In this process and for the second election in a row, the authorities maintained the ban on three opposition political parties that were outlawed last year from participating, and their main leaders in prison.
According to the Observatory of political incidents Urnas Abiertas, made up of a multidisciplinary team and volunteers, in the last local elections there was a participation of 17.33% and an abstentionism of 82.67%, based on a study carried out in 366 voting centers. of the 3,106 enabled, with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 5%.
Related news: Boric criticizes Ortega for assigning himself the 153 mayors of Nicaragua
However, the Electoral Power set participation at 57.1% and abstention at 42.9% in local elections.
The CSE, controlled by the ruling party, dropped 785,601 voters in one year without explaining the reasons.
In the general elections of November 7, 2021, in which Ortega and his wife were re-elected as president and vice president, respectively, with their main rivals in prison, the Electoral Power summoned 4,478,334 Nicaraguans to vote (out of a population of 6 ,6 millions).
For the municipal elections, they called 3,692,733 voters, an even lower number than in the previous local elections of 2017, when they registered 3,894,104, that is, instead of increasing in five years, it was reduced by 201,371 voters, according to the figures officers.
