3 yıl önce

Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega secures fourth term after contentious election

Official partial results show Ortega, the Americas’ longest-serving leader, has won re-election with 75 percent of the vote in polls denounced by US President Joe Biden as a “sham”.

AFP

Ortega ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, after the guerrilla ousting of US-backed Anastasio Somoza Debayle.

Nicaragua's incumbent Daniel Ortega has won re-election with 75 percent of votes, according to official partial results announced, securing a fourth consecutive five-year term for the long-term president.

The announcement came as votes in 49 percent of the Central American nation's polling stations were counted, said the electoral council, which put participation at 65.34 percent.

US President Joe Biden, in a statement issued before the tally was announced, said Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, had orchestrated a "pantomime election that was neither free nor fair."

With seven would-be presidential challengers detained since June, 75-year-old Ortega secured a fourth consecutive five-year term for the long-term president.

Election authorities banned the country's main opposition alliance from contesting Sunday's vote.

'Demons'

On Sunday afternoon, Ortega hailed the latest election as a victory delivered by the "immense majority of Nicaraguans", and lashed out at domestic opponents, calling them "demons."

The election took place without international observers and with most foreign media denied access to the country amid protests in Costa Rica, Spain, the United States and Guatemala, countries that are home to thousands of Nicaraguan exiles.

Only "election attendants" and journalists from countries the government considers "friendly," received accreditation.

The United States and Europe have imposed sanctions against the Ortega family members and allies.

Ortega ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, after the guerrilla ousting of US-backed Anastasio Somoza Debayle.

Returning to power in 2007, he has won reelection three times, becoming increasingly authoritarian and quashing presidential term limits.

Jailed opposition figures, including journalists, are accused of unspecified attacks on Nicaragua's "sovereignty" under a law passed by a parliament dominated by Ortega allies, who also control the judiciary and electoral body.