Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is moving to exclude 'traitors' and opposition members accused of plotting 'coups' from future elections, while proposing to extend the presidential term from six to seven years with the option of re-election, according to a draft constitutional reform submitted to the National Assembly.
National Assembly President Gustavo Porras on Tuesday outlined the contents of the reform, according to multiple media outlets, though he offered few specifics. The proposal is expected to be approved in September.
The move follows recent statements by the president that there would be no more elections in the Central American nation, a way to prevent the opposition from 'taking over the government.'
'Our system of government, under the leadership of the president of the people, proposes to be organized with an effective term of seven years, renewable,' Porras said while reading the proposal.
A previous constitutional amendment was passed in 2024, extending the presidential term from five to six years and elevating Ortega's wife, Rosario Murillo, from vice president to co-president. It also postponed scheduled elections until late 2027.
Critics denounce these moves as efforts to keep the presidential family in power indefinitely. Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla, began his fourth consecutive term in January 2022 after winning the November 2021 election amid growing criticism and sanctions from the international community, led by the United States and the European Union.
He helped overthrow the right-wing Somoza family dictatorship in the late 1970s and is the longest-serving leader in the Americas since returning to power in 2007. Nicaragua has been in political crisis since April 2018, when Ortega responded to anti-government protests with a crackdown that killed more than 300 people, according to human rights groups.
