Ortega Promises Moderation, Opposition Boycotts Inauguration In Nicaragua
January 12, 2012
By: Rebecca Aaberg

President Daniel Ortega was sworn in for a third term as president of Nicaragua on January 10 amid allegations that his party participated in fraudulent electoral practices.  Ortega won the election against Liberal Independent Party candidate Fabio Gadea with 62.56 percent of the vote, according to TeleSUR.  The Liberal Independent Party boycotted the ceremony, protesting the validity of the election’s results.  Critics of the president cite the majority Sandinista Supreme Court’s overturn of the constitutional ban on re-election as the first step toward staying in the presidency for life, the Washington Post reports.  Additionally, with the legislative seats necessary to change the constitution, the Sandinista party now controls all three branches of government.  CNN reported that the outcome of the election may signify that the party “is looking to solidify Sandinista party control over state institutions.”

While Ortega’s victory in the November 2011 election has been accepted by the international community, the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS) released statements of concern for the level of transparency in the electoral process.  CNN reported that the OAS observer mission’s report cited citizens’ difficulties in obtaining voter identification cards and lack of accredited observers.  The opposition party denounced the contest as a fraud, and violent confrontations between opposition and government supporters occurred in the northern towns of San Jose de Cusmapa and Siuna and the capital, Managua.  The BBC reported four civilians were killed and 46 police officers were injured in the week following the election.

Supporters and detractors alike, however, see the next Ortega presidency as moderate.  Ortega’s inaugural address expressed plans to maintain assistance programs for the poor, funded in part with approximately $500 million a year from Venezuela, the BBC reported.  The programs, created under Ortega’s previous term, are aimed at improving the living conditions of the nearly 40 percent of the population living on fewer than $2 per day.  However, the president has strayed from his revolutionary origins in working with the business community.  The Washington Post reported that by signing the Central American Free Trade Agreement, Ortega gained a new set of domestic allies, “building his popularity in his previous term with pork-barrel populism and support for the free-market economy he once opposed.”  Ortega has also been criticized internationally by the United States for his close ties with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, both of whom attended the inauguration ceremony. 

Ortega led the 1979 revolution against the Somoza dictatorship and then served as Nicaragua’s leader for eleven years throughout the country’s internal armed conflict.  He previously won presidential elections in 1985 and 2006, but lost in 1990, 1996, and 2001 to the opposition party.  Ortega won the 2006 election with less than 40 percent of the vote, according to the Washington Post, and no allegations of fraudulence were reported.

For previous news on Nicaragua, please see:
Nicaragua's Ortega Re-Elected to Presidency Amidst Controversy

Sources:
BBC – Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega Begins New Presidential Term

BBC – Violence in Nicaragua After Ortega Election Victory

OAS – Misión de Acompañamiento Electoral de la OEA en Nicaragua 2011

TeleSUR – Daniel Ortega Jura Como Presidente de Nicaragua

Washington Post – Daniel Reloaded: Nicaragua’s Ortega Starts 3rd Term With Pledge of Moderation

Washington Post – Former Contras Bemoan Ortega’s Return to Power in Nicaragua

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