Nicaraguan leader proposes extending presidential term by another year
It is not the first time the constitution has been amended to allow Daniel Ortega, 80, to stay in power for longer.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, 80, who has held power since 2007, has put forth a proposal to prolong the presidential term by an additional year.
The National Assembly, which is under government control, is anticipated to endorse this extension in September. This move is part of a proposed constitutional overhaul that also seeks to prevent opposition members, labeled by the government as "traitors" or "coup plotters," from seeking public office.
Ortega's 19-year tenure has seen an increasingly authoritarian shift, marked by the imprisonment, exile, and denationalization of political adversaries.
The presidential term in Nicaragua has undergone several alterations during Ortega's time in office. In 2014, the National Assembly eliminated presidential term limits, and in 2024, it extended the term from five to six years. The legislative body also sanctioned Ortega's decision to appoint his wife, Rosario Murillo, as "co-president," thereby enabling her to assume the presidency if Ortega, whose health is reportedly fragile, were to be declared "permanently absent." Rosario Murillo was already a prominent figure before her husband designated her as co-president.
The most recent presidential elections in Nicaragua took place in November 2021. Ortega secured victory in this uncontested election after a severe crackdown on the opposition. Any potential rival candidates who posed a significant electoral threat were either detained and disqualified from running or compelled into exile. Dozens of other opposition members were also apprehended. Only a small number of obscure candidates, who were unlikely to garner substantial support, were permitted to participate.
Volker Türk, the United Nations human rights chief, has cautioned that government repression has intensified since then, with a steady erosion of the rule of law and an escalation in the persecution of political dissidents.
Few Nicaraguans have dared to publicly criticize Ortega and Murillo since over 300 individuals were killed when security forces suppressed anti-government demonstrations in 2018. Dissidents living in exile have also been targeted, with many stripped of their citizenship by the Ortega government, and their former homes in Nicaragua confiscated and sold.